// SOCZETV "^^ ^ OF INQUIRY ON MISSIONS, (D ^^'^ (!) I THE STATE OF RELIGION. | LIBRARY OF THE Theological Seminary, PRINCETON, N. J. Ci BV 3670 .P585 1831 Picken, Andrew, 1788-1833 Travels and researches of jj^ eminent English sn ^ A TRAVELS AND RESEARCHES OF EMINENT ENGLISH MISSIONARIES; INCLUDING AN HISTORICAL SKETCH PROGRESS AND PRESENT STATE OF SOME OF THE PRINCIPAL PROTESTANT MISSIONS OF LATE YEARS. BY ANDREW PICKEN. ^;-0i:^llW:%^ LONDON : WILLIAM KIDD, 6, OLD BOND STREET. MDCCCXXXI. V,rndbury and Evans, Printers. Bouverie Street. PREFACE. Persuaded that, besides the importance of the subject in the view of the religious and benevolent, there is much in the history of Missionary travels, researches, and ad- ventures in heathen countries, which de- mands a more general attention from the public ; — the object of the author, in com- piling the present series of abridgments, has been to select from out of the vast mass of matter written by the Missionaries, that portion of it, which, presented in a light and popular form, might be found to interest a2 V PREFACE. those who seldom look into Missionary ac- counts. Fully aware of the sort of feeling, with which any thing connected with religious missions abroad, is regarded by a large portion of the world, and of which any one acquainted with literature who wades through their general records, is very apt to partake ; the author yet imagines, — from the excellent opportunities that the peculiar purposes and employments of Missionaries afford them of acquiring a species of knowledge not easily or hastily obtained, — that much may be culled from their communications, which is both important in itself, and equally in- teresting. In regard particularly to en- quiries respecting the traditional supersti- tions of nations, or the natural biases of the " untutored mind," with its vague PREFACE. researches after a knowledge of the origin and future destiny of man — the pecuUar habits of thinking of the intelligent Mis- sionary, accustomed constantly to view hu- man nature with reference to Deity and a hereafter, must be exceedingly favourable to obtaining such information as mere worldly men or philosophers could not easily reach. This is particularly applicable to the Mis- sionary enquirers into the complex super- stitions of the ancient nations of the East ; and even to those who have of late years laboured so successfully in the romantic islands of the South Sea. But though con- densation and digest of his materials, has been the aim of the author, as far as was at all consistent with the general objects of his book ; the importance of the remarkable changes that have lately been effected in a 3 VI PREFACE. these islands, has led him so far into the history of the colonies planted among them, that he has been unable, in the bounds of the present volume, to overtake those other Missionary travellers, vv^hose vv^orks, in an extended form, have from time to time been so favourably received by the public. Upon the encouragement that may be given to the present volume, will depend his extending the subject to the remaining religious travellers, and other points of Mis- sionary history and statements. In so far, however, as he has at present gone into the subject, should the author, from out of the vast and confused field of Missionary jour- nal and report, have succeeded in making his volume as pleasing to general readers, as the chief objects of it are important in the eyes of the supporters of Missions, he will PREFACE. Vll have accomplished that which, extensive as the materials are, has scarcely been attempted heretofore. It may, perhaps, be unnecessary to add, that in the accounts of countries and their inhabitants contained in this volume, the author has not thought himself warranted in giving any scientific form to the facts stated, but has merely, where he has not quoted the words, given the sense and spirit of the simple observa- tions of the Missionaries. London, December , 1830. CONTENTS INTRODUCTORY SKETCH OF MISSIONARY HISTORY. Preliminary remarks on the changes effected on communi- ties of mankind, by means of the transmission of religious sentiment— Consequent importance of Christian Missions- Apathy of a large portion of the British public to the subject —Our own improved condition in a great degree attributable to the early labours of iVIissionaries among our ancestors- Sketch of the history of Christian Missions — Modern Mis- sions—The Swiss— The Swedes — The Moravians— Dr. Coke— Tlie Baptist Missionary Society 1 CONTENTS. FIRST MISSIONARY VOYAGE TO THE SOUTH SEA, BY CAPTAIN WILSON AND OTHERS, IN THE SHIP DUFF. CHAPTER I. Preliminary sketch of the original discovery of the Pacific Ocean — Interest created in England for the islanders of the South Sea, by means of the narratives of Captain Cook and other navigators — Resolutions in their favour by the London Missionary Society, enthusiastically seconded by the British Public — Sailing of the Duff from the Thames, and occur- rences during the voyage — Arrival at Rio Janeiro — At New South Wales — First sight obtained of the South Sea islands — Arrival at Tahiti 18 CHAPTER II. Mutual impressions of the natives and Missionaries — Re- port of two Swedes found on the island — The old priest — Landing of the INIissionaries — Flattering reception by the king and people — House and district of land made over to them — Reciprocal acts of kindness between natives and Mis- sionaries— First solemn address to the people — Departure of the Duff for other islands 36 CONTEXTS. CHAPTER III. XI Arrival of the Duff at the island of Eimeo, and description of the harbour and people — Departure— Palmerston island — Arrival at Tongatabu — Two Englishmen found on the island — Landing of ten Missionaries — Visit of a tall chief, and of a corpulent female of rank — Departure of the Duff ... 62 CHAPTER IV. Arrival of the Duff at Santa Christina — Visit of seven beautiful females — State of the island — Landing of two Missionaries — Curiosity and rude kindness of the natives — Their feeling — Anecdote of a native who stole from the ship — Amiable conduct of the natives — Kindness of a chief — Cowardice and strange adventure of Mr. Harris — Peculiarities of the natives — Return of the Duff to Tahiti 77 CHAPTER V. Occurrences at Tahiti during the absence of the Duff- Erection of a sawpit and a blacksmith's shop — Description of a romantic valley — Building of a boat — Difficulties of ac- quiring the language — Thievishness of the natives — Robbery of the blacksmith's shop, &c. — Infanticide of the Areoissect — Prosperity of the Mission, and arrival of the Duff 97 CHAPTER VL Pedestrian travels round the island of Tahiti by Mr. Puckey — Appearance of the country, and hospitality of the Xn CONTENTS. natives — Their state of comparative civilisation — Effect of the feastings of the Areois, &c., upon the country — Their night revelling — Pomare's house, and conversation — The great Morai at Obera — The altar and ark of Atua — The great feasting house — Romantic appearance of parts of the country from the coral shore 115 CHAPTER VII. Departure of the DufFfrom Tahiti — Touches at Huahine — Connor the Irishman — Arrival at Tongatabu — Slight pro- gress of the Missionaries, and villainy of Ambler, &c. — Account of the funeral of the king of the island — Character of the inhabitants — Religious belief — Manners and ca- pabilities, &c. — Departure of the Duff and her arrival in England 134 CONTENTS. XUl DR. VANDERKEMP'S TRAVELS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. CHAPTER I. Sketch of the Life of Dr. Vanderkemp, previous to his be- coming a Missionary — He studies at Leyden — Enters the army — Goes to Edinburgh — Returns to Holland — His wife and daughter drowned at Dort — Goes to London, and engages as a Missionary — Sails for the Cape — Travels into the interior of Africa 160 CHAPTER II. Vanderkemp departs from Graaf Reynet — Alarming in- formation from a Hottentot — Offers of friendship by Caffres — Return of messengers sent to the king of CafFraria with a passport — Various occurrences on the journey, and arrival at the king's residence — Conference with King Gika — Un- favourable prospects for the Mission 181 CHAPTER IIL Prudent management of Buys the refugee interpreter — Con- fession and penitence of the king — Departure of Vanderkemp for the place given to him — Beauty of the scenery round the intended settlement, and proceedings of the settlers — Arrival of Mr. Meynier — Departure of Mr. Edmond— Dangerous situation of the Doctor — Murder of Bota by the CafFres, and removal of Vanderkemp from the settlement , . 199 XIV CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. Atheism of the CafFre people — Their Sorcery — Govern- ment— Manner of building — Mode of living — Agricultural produce of CafFraria — Dress of the natives — Inhumanity to the aged and dying — Cleanliness — Generous feelings — Popu- lation of the country 213 CHAPTER V. Description of the general appearance and nature of the CafFre country — Climate — Thunder-storms — Vegetable pro- ductions— Animals — Custom when the king is sick — Punish- ments for crimes 226 CHAPTER VI. Continuation of Vanderkemp's travels — Hottentots killed by the Boshemen — Numbers of wild beasts — Intense cold — Arrival at Graaf Reynet — Begins to labour among the Hottentots — Opposition and rebellion of the Colonists — Disposition of the little army for battle — Departure for Algoa bay, and founding of Bethelsdorp — Departure of the Doctor for the Cape — His further labours and death.. . 238 CONTENTS. XV / REV. JOHN CAMPBELL'S FIRST JOURNEY INTO THE INTERIOR OF SOUTH AFRICA. CHAPTER I. Departure from the Cape, and proposed plan — First chain of mountains — General description of the appearance of the interior — Contrasts of scenery — Difficulties of impelling the oxen and waggons over the passes and mountains — De- scription of George, a new town on the coast 249 CHAPTER II. Some account of Bethelsdorp — Its barren situation and wretched appearance — Amount of population, and general state — Arrival at Graaf Reynet — Travels through the Boshe- men's country — Arrival at the Orange river — The country on its banks — The travellers cross the river, and arrive at Griqua town 262 CHAPTER III. Description of the shining mountain and cavern — The travellers arrive at Lattakoo — Hear of the murder of an ex- ploring party — Conference with nine chiefs — Visit from the king — Peculiarities of the people — Fantastic dances — Want of sympathy — The king's dinner — Story of the Cayenne pepper 247 Xri CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. Departure from Lattakoo, and arrival at several rivers — Enchanting scenery — Return to Griqua-tov/n — Arrival at Hardcastle — The Asbestos mountains — Journey across the continent by the banks of the Orange river, and description of the country — Arrival at Pella — Return to the Cape. , 288 CONTENTS. XVil REV. JOHN CAMPBELL'S SECOND JOUKNEY INTO THE INTERIOR OF AFRICA. CHAPTER I. Departure from the Cape, and journey to Lattakoo — General scenery of the Tammaha country, and arrival at sun- dry towns — Interview with the inhabitants of Merebohwhey — Astonishment of the chiefs at the sight of sundry European articles — Further travels, and description of the country — Arrival at Mash ow— Conference with the king, &c. — De- parture towards the north 297 CHAPTER II. Further description of the Tammaha country — The tra- vellers meet with a number of rivers and small lakes — Description of the company that followed them — Character of the Hottentots, &c. — Uproarious manners of the people on some occasions — Appearance of the whole caravan — Ap- proach to Kureechane — Arrival and reception there. ... 314 CHAPTER III. Description of a great meeting of the captains and other chiefs — Dress, and general appearance — Speeches and senti- ments— Sketch of the city, and form of the houses — Popula- tion—State of the arts — Manufactures — Natural wealth of the countrj' — Customs of the country — Rain makers — Wars, and disposition of the people — Departure of the Mission- aries, and return to the Cape ••«, 324 XVIU CONTENTS. JOHN JEFFERSON AND OTHERS, IN THE GEORGIAN ISLANDS IN THE SOUTH SEA. CHAPTER I. Brief account of the second voyage of the Duff, and of her fate — Consternation caused in England by the event — Pro- ceedings of Mr. Jefferson and other Missionaries at Tahiti — Arrival of the Nautilus, and succeeding disasters — III treat- ment and jeopardy of Mr. Jefferson and his companions — Most of the Missionaries leave the island, and sail to Port Jackson — Murder of Mr. Clode there — Murder of Mr. Lewis in Tahiti— Infidelity of Mr. Broomhall 342 CHAPTER II. Continuation of the history of the Mission left at Tonga- tabu by the ship Duff— Murder of the principal chief, and war in the island — Great danger of the Missionaries, and murder of three of them — Apostacy of Veeson, who is made a chief of the island — His anxiety to leave it — Is taken on board of an English ship— Fate of Mr. Crook, formerly left at Santa Christina — History of the Mission at Tahiti, . 368 CONTENTS. XIX CHAPTER III. Cause of the war in Tahiti — Arrival of Englishmen on the island, who aid the Missionaries in defending the settle- ment— Suspension of hostilities — Preaching in the language of the Tahitians, and difficulties of the ^Missionaries — Burning of their plantations by the natives — Mortality on the Island, and violent prejudices against the Missionaries — ^Their priva- tions— Arrival of a vessel from Port Jackson — Death of Mr. Jefferson — Renewal of the war, flight of the Missionaries, and expulsion of the king — Present abandonment of the Mission, and effects of the intelligence of it in England . 385 PEIITOSTOIT ^TlTI^OLOGIGJcLi^ -^^^^^^ XX CONTENTS. WILLIAM ELLIS'S VOYAGES AND RESEARCHES AMONG THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. CHAPTER I. Voyage from England to the Pacific — Arrival at New- Zealand, and general impressions from the scenery and people — Arrival at Rapa, and general sketch — Thievish dis- position of the natives — They attempt to steal the ship's dog — A chief jumps overboard with the cat — Arrival at Tabuai — Appearance of it and of the natives — Arrival at Tahit. 404 CHAPTER II. Impressions of the scenery of Tahiti — Landing of a horse and astonishment of the natives — Visit of the queen and her attendants to the ship — Departure for Eimeo, and arrival there — State of the Mission, and sketch of the late changes in these islands — Conversion of Pomare — Abolition of idola- try— The idols publicly burned — Persecution of the Cliris- tians — Remarkable progress of Christianity 422 CONTENTS. XXI CHAPTER III. Mr. Ellis sails to the district of Afaraitu — Description ot a Tahitian dinner — Of the valleys of Afaraitu — Forming of a ^lissionary station there, and setting up of a printing press — Astonishment and crowding of the natives, at the first work- ing of the press — Printing and bookbinding — Affecting eager- ness of the people for books — Extensive and humanising effects of the introduction of Christianity 439 CHAPTER IV. Changes effected in regard to the honesty of the people — Departure of Mr. Ellis and others from Eimeo, and arrival at Huahine — Reception by the natives, and first night on the island — Formation of a native Missionary society in Eimeo — Meeting and interesting proceedings at the institution of the society 485 CHAPTER V. Missionary vessel built at Eimeo — The launch — Voyage of Mr. Ellis to Raiatea, and hospitality of the natives — Descrip- tion of a district of Raiatea, with the ruins of an idol temple — Arrival at the Missionary station — General examination of school children — Dinner in the grove — Procession and speech of an aged chief 470 XXll CONTENTS. CHAPTER VI. General iniproveraent of the islanders in the art of building — Schools and chapels built in Huahine and Raiatea — De- scription of the royal mission chapel in Tahiti — Mr. Ellis's voyage to Tahiti and Eimeo — A night scene at sea — Sketcli of the astronomical notions of the islanders 480 CHAPTER VII. Summary of the Changes eflPected by the introduction of Christianity into the Georgian Islands — South Sea academy established at Eimeo — Laws promulgated, and Revenue levied — Judges and Magistrates appointed, and Trial by Jury — Parliament of chiefs formed at Tahiti — Death of Pomare, and return of Mi, Ellis to England - General remarks on the Customs and History of the Islanders — Insanity among them — Wild Men among the mountains of Tahiti — Trepanning— Ancient origin of these Nations — Conclusion 497 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH MISSIONARY HISTORY. Preliminary Remarks on the changes effected on Communities of Mankind, by means of the transmission of Religious Sentiment — Consequent importance of Christian Missions — Apathy of a large portion of the British Public to the subject — Our own im- proved condition, in a great degree, attributable to the early labours of Missionaries among our ancestors — Sketch of the History of Christian Missions— Modern Missions— The Swiss — The Swedes— The Moravians— Dr. Coke— The Baptist Missionary Society. The most important changes, which hav^e occur- red in the history of civilisation, or of man, have been effected by the power of religious sentiment, transmitted and impressed upon the human mind. Not, at present, to speak of the great events of religious change in the most ancient nations of the heathen world 3 not to go back to the fabled B 2 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH revelations of Bralima, or the appearance of Zerdusht among the original worshippers of the heavenly bodies in the East ; the incarnations of Vishnu, the advent of Buddha, or the labours of Confucius ; and barely alluding to the allegorical deification of Bacchus, or of Jupiter, by the more western nations j from which, as a root, grew up the poetical religion of the Pantheon, so long in- fluential over a refined people, — we may say, that no one event in the history of the world, has pro- duced more striking effects upon the social con- dition and current opinions of a large portion of mankind, than the promulgation, in late times, of the doctrines of Christianity. On the other hand, it must be observed, that no one instrument has ever been discovered, which has proved more effectual for the subjugation and debasing of the human mind, than some of the corrupt modifi- cations of that very faith, as evinced in the well- invented superstitions of the Greek and Romish Churches, or the sensual fatalism taught by the false prophet of Mecca. The changing of the religion of any people, then, is the changing, in general, of their Whole mode of thinking, and manv of their most important habits of life ; OF MISSIONARY HISTORY. O and in this point of view, as well as with refer- ence to man's hopes of immortality, such a change must be, at all times, of the greatest individual and national importance. In assiduous endeavours of this nature, among nations still wallowing in the most cruel super- stitions, are a considerable number of laborious mdividuals at this moment engaged, throughout various parts of the world ; but, independent of mere religious considerations, connected with the effecting of so important a change, the general pubhc of Great Britain seem scarcely at all aware of what has been done of late years by those employed in this toilsome work, even in the v;ay of obtaining correct and amusing inform- ation regarding the manners, habits, and social condition of some of the most interesting nations on the face of the earth, as yet but little advanced in civilisation. Nor has an interest, at all com- mensurate with the subject, been hitherto taken, by general readers, in those numerous circum- stances of personal adventure, travel, and re- search, incident to the life and pecuHar oppor- tunities of an intelligent Missionary j whose business frequently is to explore the interior of 4 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH countries, and to reside in the midst of nations of whom little is known, excepting what has been learned from the hasty reports of navigators, and other transient visitors. Neither are the ex- traordinary labours, and almost incredible per- severance, of some of the Missionaries in the attainment of difficult languages, and the trans- lating of the Scriptures and other books into them, for the benefit of heathen nations, at all known to the English public, to the extent that they merit j no more than the many interesting facts illustrative of the history of man and nature, which these labours naturally bring out.* Into the causes of this ignorance, on the part of of a large portion of the public, of matters really so important, if not interesting, it is unnecessary here to enter. They belong, in some degree, to the nature of things 3 but much more, we apprehend, to * It must be confesseJ, however, that the services which the IMissionaries have rendered to general knowledge, bear no proportion to the opportunities which their vocation gives them. This arises from their minds being absorbed in one pervading aim j yet still much may be gained from their simple statements, and more, perhaps, by judicious in- ference. or MISSIONARY HISTORY. 5 the manner and aims of the Missionaries them- selves, or rather of their prominent coadjutors at home 3 who contrive to render what accounts they give of the labours and proceedings of those abroad, much more repulsive to the inquisitive and intellectual, than is at- all chargeable upon the subject itself, irreligious or apathetic as the world at large may be admitted to be. Yet, from out of the vast mass of writing connected with Missions, (for there is no lack of quantity in the transmitted accounts,) there is still to be culled something, besides hard names and com- mon Scripture expressions, — pages of unqualified eulogy of unknown individuals, and detailed ac- knowledgments for donations of money. The Missionaries are generally plain and often intel- ligent men -, at least, there are circumstances con- nected with their labours and travels in heathen lands, which possess all the qualities that gene- rally interest the reading world. But, before we proceed to the more remarkable of the Missionary voyages and travels of late times, a general glance over Missionary history may not be unacceptable to the reader. To anxiety for the propagation of a faith, on B 2 O INTRODUCTORY SKETCH the belief of which depends the everlasting wel- fare of the passing generations of mankind, we ourselves are, under providence, indebted for our religion, which was first preached to our bar- barous ancestors by Missionaries sent from other countries for their conversion. It was about the year of Christ, 596, when Austin and Mehtus, Paulinus and Ruffinian, laboured in England as Missionaries from the East, converting our fore- fathers from their idolatrous and sanguinary Druid worship, and paving the way for that civi- lisation, which has by degrees improved to its present perfection. Before this time, however, by about a century and a half, that is to say, about the year 434, Palladius was sent with others to preach in Scotland, from whence shortly after, was despatched to the neighbour- ing island of Ireland, the celebrated Patrick. This indefatigable Missionary, although he found the natives of that kingdom in the most savage condition, and even with the habits of cannibals, as some assert, laboured among them with such effect, that his name is still held sacred by the Irish people, as the father of their religion and the civiliscr of their country. OF MISSIONARY HISTORY. 7 Missionary labours, indeed, in connection with the Christian faith, commenced as early as the time of Constantine, when one Frumentius preached with success among the eastern Indians ; and soon after, other Missionaries were, in obedience to spe- cial invitation, sent to convert the Iberians on the Caspian Sea. An irruption of the barbarians who then inhabited the northern regions near the Danube and the Rhine, into the ancient kingdom of Thrace, was the means, by their carrying oflf some Christian captives, of gradually making Christianity known in that part of Europe. About the year 372, also, a certain Monk, named Moses, undertook a mission to the Saracens in Arabia, while Christianity next extended to the Scythian Nomad es beyond the Danube, and afterwards, about the year 430, to the Burgundians, who dwelt in Gaul. The various Missionaries whose names history records as the first propagators of the Gospel, among the then heathen world, are too numerous to be here repeated j but by the year 990, Christianity had penetrated as far north as Muscovy, and even into Norway j and in IIGS, the Swedes had both received it themselves, and propagated it in Finland and other 8 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH places in their own neighbourhood. Even after Christianity was much corrupted, the spirit of Missionary zeal for its propagation was not quite dormant. It was about 1550, that the Jesuits were sent to China upon a mission, which was upheld for many years ; and Francis Xavier, called the Apostle of the Indians, laboured from 1541 till after 1550, on the East Indian Continent, and the island of Japan. Other Popish mis- sions of much celebrity have from time to time been established throughout the world, and the labours of the Jesuits in Paraguay, after the dis- covery of the south continent of America, are well known as a curious experiment upon human nature and civil policy. It is somewhat remarkable that to another spot in this very continent, last mentioned, namely to Brazil, were directed the first mis- sionary efforts of reformed Christianity out of Europe. The reformed religion was yet strug- gling with the troubles of its infant reign, when a few resolute men from among the Swiss moun- tains, in consequence of an invitation sent to the celebrated Calvin at Geneva, from certain exiled Protestants in Rio Janiero^ set off from the re- OF MISSIONARY HISTORY. 9 publican city in the year 1556, and embarking soon after at Harfleur in France, were received in Brazil by their expectant friends with the ut- most joy. The miseries and trials however that these fourteen poor men endured after their ar- rival at Rio, chieHy from the change of prin- ciples, and treachery of Villegagnon^ the French commander of the expedition, it does not fall in with our plan to detail ; but after a residence on the American continent of only ten months, they were most unmercifully driven from the colony in a leaky ship, and but few of them survived the horrible starvation, shipwreck, and other hard- ships which they were forced to encounter in that disastrous voyage.-^ In 1559, Gustavus Vasa, King of Sweden, had the merit of following the Swiss, in sending mis- sions out of his own country for the propagation of Christianity after the reformation. The mis- sion consisted ai first of only one man, named Michael, who was sent no farther than Lapland. Though to this mission considerable attention was * " Southey's History of Brazil ;" " Histoire Generale des Vovages— Tom. xiv. p. 185 to 196 j" " Brown's Pro- pagation of the Gospel, &c." 10 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH paid by Gustavus Adolphus, and other suc- cessors of him who first countenanced it, yet it never materially prospered. Various other mis- sions from Europe were afterwards undertaken^ — by the Dutch to Ceylon^ Java, and other parts of the east ; by the Danes to Greenland and the East Indies, and besides these, by our country- men living in America, to the Indians at Massa- chusetts, and other parts ; in the latter of which places, from the year 1646 onwards, one John Elliot, from near Boston, with David Brainerd, and John Sergeant, were amongst the most dis- tinguished labourers. But no modern religious body has done so much, with such limited means, for the propa- gation of Christianity, and the extension of the benefits of civilisation, as the German society of the United Brethren, known in England by the name of Moravians. That remarkable com- munity, emerging from among the persecuted churches of Bohemia, whence sprung the ce- lebrated martyrs, John Huss and Jerome of Prague, ultimately united at Hernhuth in Upper Lusatia, on the property and under the protec- tion of the well-known Count Zinzendorf. This OF MISSIONARY HISTORY. 11 extraordinary man, soon after his junction with the Moravian Brethren, being at the Court of the King of Denmark^ where he attended the Coronation of Christian the Sixth, saw accident- ally two native Greenlanders, who, having been converted, and baptized in the Christian faith, w^ere in Copenhagen at the time. Learning with regret that the mission to Greenland, by means of which the conversion of these men had been effected, was, notwithstanding the devoted en- thusiasm of Mr. Egede, the Danish Missionary, about to be abandoned in despair by the king ; his mind was deeply impressed with the import- ance of the conversion of the heathen throughout the world, and, on his return to his estate, he communicated his impressions to his brethren at Hernhuth. The brethren at once entered deeply into the Count's feelings upon the subject, and not long after, namely in January, 1733, the cele- brated Christian David and two others, with no wordly advantage but enthusiasm for the cause, and with hardly more equipment than the light purse and scrip of the original Apostles, set forth on foot for the city of Copenhagen, and thence travelled to the inhospitable shores of Greenland. 12 • l?^TKODUCTORY SKETCH About the same time it was told to one of the servants of the Count, that a poor negro, depend- ent on his bounty, had a sister, and other friends of his race, in the Island of St. Thomas's in the West Indies, and these, having learned something of the truths of Christianity, strongly desired to be further instructed, but had not the means of ob- taining their wishes. The subject of this poor individual's report having been subsequently discussed among the brethren at Hernhuth, two young men of their number presented themselves as ready to set out to the West Indies, to teach Christianity to the slaves ; and in spite of opposition and discouragement, so ardently were they determined on making every sacrifice in the cause they had espoused, that they actually offered to sell themselves and pass into vo- luntary slavery, in order to make sure of oppor- tunities of teaching the gospel to the negroes. It was in a spirit of this kind that the cele- brated Moravian missions were at first under- taken, which have since been the means of effect- ing such remarkable changes among the un- civilised in various parts of the world. But tlie dangers that were encountered, and the trials OF MISSIONARY IIISTOllY. 13 and privations that were suffered by the good men, who first went abroad on their perilous en- terprize, form the materials of a very long his- tory, and were such as nothing but the most ar- dent enthusiasm in the cause could have enabled them to endure. On the freezing shores of Greenland, cold and hunger, storm and peril, during the long darkness of winter, when the raging and intruding sea sometimes overwhelmed their snow houses while they slept, caused them to endure hardships which w^ould have broken the spirits of most men. The stormy coast of La- brador, where the brethren laboured along with some Englishmen, and not without success, even among the wild and half-starved Esquimaux, was a spot little less trying to the virtues of the missionaries. But the mortality that afterwards made such havoc — among those who, encoun- tering bravely in the contrary extreme of cli- mate, the burning heat of the unhealthy West India islands, thus fell a sacrifice to their own zeal — was the means of checking for a time the ardour of the efforts of the Moravians 3 not indeed by damping the spirit by which they were actuated, but by the mere effect of reducing their c 14 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH number j hundreds of them being hurried to an early grave. It was in North America, how- ever, and by the murderous wars of the Hurons and Iriquois, that the poor Moravians, together with their no less harmless converts, suffered most dreadfully in Hfe and limb. Sometimes they were driven from their homes and their settlements, and obliged to wander in the woods in distress and terror. — Sometimes they were taken prisoners by the contending savages, and scalped and murdered in cold blood. — Sometimes their houses were burnt over their heads, and their wives and families separated from them, while they endured unutterable anguish. — On one occasion their faithful and patient converts were denounced as victims in the barbarous councils of the native chiefs, and being sepa- rated, the men from the women and children, they were all bound in pairs back to back, and slaughtered like sheep before each other's eyes.* To the interesting history of the Moravian Missionaries, we can however only barely allude, the subject being far too extensive for the present * Cran'.z's Tlistory of tl\o INIoravians. OF MISSIONARY HISTORY. 15 volume to embrace 3 our plan requiring us to confine ourselves to a select number only, even of the English Missions. Posterity, however, will probably give that modest and yet laborious and patient people the credit they deserve, for their extraordinary exertions in the cause of civilization and christian philanthropy j for it was they that really led the way in that great work 3 it was they who, in its best sense, set the example to all Europe, of Missionary exertion, and showed what could be done for the mitigation of human suffer- ing, and the introduction of benevolent principles among the rudest nations; by a courageous en- thusiasm which burned constantly at the heart, and a systematic perseverance which no trials could wear out. Their settlements in Greenland, the Labrador coast. North America, the West Indies, South America, Africa, and the East, are between thirty and forty in number, and in these are employed above an hundred Missionaries, be- sides their wives and families, and the converts under their care. The number of these converts and pupils, not including the multitudes who attend their instructions, amount as nearly as we can learn to above 30,000. 16 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH One of the first direct Missions undertaken out of England, was that by Dr. Coke the Methodist, though this, as far as its local settlement is con- cerned, was in a great measure accidental. The Doctor and three other Methodist preachers, sail- ing from England in 1/86 for the port of Halifax in Nova Scotia, were driven by a succession of dreadful storms so far to the south, that the first land they made in their disastrous voyage, was the island of Antigua in the West Indies. Here the Doctor and his companions preached with success, and soon after extending his labours to other islands, the event became the first step in the formation of " The General Wesleyan Missionary Society." Next after this, namely in 1792, a few Baptist ministers assembling at the small town of Kettering in Northamptonshire, laid the foundation of the great Baptist Mission in the east, by sending out, soon after, the celebrated Dr. Carey, with ^Villiam Ward, and others, whose subsequent labours in the acquisition of languages and in the translation of the scriptures, have been perhaps the most extraordinary exhibited in modern times. Although in point of time, this Mission to the east, preceded that sent by the OF MISSIONARY HISTORY. 17 London Society to the South Sea, yet as the latter included travels and discoveries among an interesting people, and forms an era in the history of Missionary services to civilization and to knowledge, we shall commence our account of celebrated adventures from England, of this species, with the first Missionary voyage to the South Sea islands, undertaken in the ship Duff in 1796 ; and begin with a slight sketch of the discovery of that vast maritime territory, the Pacific Ocean. c 2 18 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP UUFF. FIRST MISSIONARY VOYAGE TO THE SOUTH SEA. VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF. CHAPTER I. Preliminary Sketch of the original discovery of the Pacific Ocean^ — Interest created in England for the Islanders of the South Sea, by the narratives of Cook and other navigators.— Resolutiohs in their favour by the London Missionary Society, enthusiastically seconded by the British Public. — Sailing of the Duff from the Thames, and occurrences during the voyage. — Arrival at Rio dc Janeiro. — At New South Wales.— First sight obtained of the South Sea Islands. — Arrival at Tahiti, It was on the 25th day of September, in the year 1513, that an adventurous Spaniard, named Vasco Nunez de Balboa, on being conducted by an Indian to the summit of one of the moun- TO THE SOUTH SEA. 19 tains that form part of the chain ranging along the narrow isthmus which connects the two con- tinents of North and South America, obtained, for the first time for any European, a sight of that great ocean afterwards called the Pacific, which covers with its waters nearly half the sur- face of our globe. The discovery of the Molucca islands, which border this immense sea, to the south east of the Asiatic Continent, having been effected by the Portuguese two years before, the precious spices found there, greatly stimulated the spirit of ad- venture of that age, kindled into a flame by the recent conquest of Malacca by Albuquerque ; and together with the astonishing report of Balboa, induced the attempt to reach them by the west, perhaps over the surface of this newly observed ocean. This courageous enterprise was underta- ken by the celebrated Hernando de Magalhaens, or Magellan, a gentleman who had been one of the followers of Albuquerque ; and who, having received superior encouragement from the court of Spain, set sail from Europe in September, 1519, with five ships under his command -, deter- mined by sailing west and south, and following 20 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF a course never before attempted, to try to make the Molucca islands at least, by an entirely new passage. Reaching first a southern part of the South American Continent, where he rested for the winter and refreshed his followers, he lei- surely proceeded still southerly 5 and in the October following, first discovered that Strait which has since borne his name. Neither the dangerous currents of this tempestuous region, however, nor the unknown nautical terrors of the stormy Cape Horn, could damp the ardour of the bold adventurers, and having at length surmounted all the diflliculties of the Strait, and cleared the wild shores by which they were surrounded, Magellan and his discovery ships first emerged into the great South Sea. Sea-room, almost boundless, the great delight of the sailor, which this wide ocean so amply aflfords, together with steady breezes and salubri- ous weather, carried these first adventurers on into this new region, with high hopes, and spirits dancing as the waves over which they lightly rode. Finding that the stream of wind which so pleasingly wafted them into a warmer climate, followed the course of the sun and blew steadily TO THE SOUTH SEA. 21 in one direction, in that manner which in all similar cases has been since denominated a trade wind 3 and that, favoured by this breeze, the trader and his companions proceeded on with an ease and rapidity beyond their most sanguine expectations, the sea and sky seemed to Magellan equally to be at peace with each other and with the hopeful mariner who had entrusted himself to both J and thinking this unexplored world of waters worthy to be called a Pacific Ocean, he gave it that name which it will probably for ever retain. Following further the brief sketch that we think it necessary to offer, regarding the first adventurers into the great South Sea, we can only add with regard to Magellan, that after discover- ing the Ladrones and the Philippine Islands, the brave navigator never reached his home to enjoy the fruits of his discoveries j but like his celebrated follower in the same tract, our own Captain Cook, he was killed in an encounter with the natives of one of the latter islands, and but one out of the five ships with which he originally left Spain ever returned to Europe, having on board no more than thirty of the adventurers. 22 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF exclusive of the new commander, Sebastian Cano. Thus was the first voyage round the world per- formed in about three years, the last vessel of the squadron returning to Spain by the Eastern Sea and the Cape of Good Hope. Passing over the adventures of the various succeeding navigators, by whom the numerous groups of small, but delightful islands, which seem to have started up in all their green and rich fertility from the bosom of this great ocean, were successively discovered, the attention of Europe, and particularly of England, was so much attracted towards this part of the globe, from the various reports of the navigators sent out on voyages of discovery, by order of his Britannic Majesty, George the Third, that upon the publication of the interesting narratives of the intrepid Cook and others, the seductive accounts of the honest seamen were read with avidity by all classes, and philanthropic minds began to see in this new region a wide field for the noblest experiments. That portion of the British public whose minds were impressed with commisera- tion for the religious and moral degradation of the heathen in distant parts, and who had in TO THE SOUTH SEA. 23 September, 1795, formed themselves into an asso- ciation in London, under the name of The Mis- sionary Society, conceived that they could not be- gin their attempts in a region abroad more roman- tically promising, than among the indolent and simple, yet generous islanders of whom they had had such pleasing accounts from the navigators, their late visitors, in the South Sea. Numerous reasons appeared favourable to this plan, notwithstanding the great distance from England where these islanders dwelt, their iso- lated situation, placed in groups in the midst of a vast ocean, and the expensive and adventurous nature of the undertaking. The salubrity of the climate promised health to European settlers, and seemed to reproach such as, possessing the missionary spirit, were not zealous for the under- taking, after reading of the patient labours and sufferings of the Moravian christians on the cold shores of Greenland and Labrador. The ro- mantic beauty of the country, now painted in enchanting colours by the Ministers of the So- ciety j and the rich productions of nature, not less glowingly described in these newly-discovered gardens of the Hesperides^ — the interesting cha- 24 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF ractcrs and graceful forms of their inhabitants also, notwithstanding their simple thievishness and polytheism, together with the abundance of nature's bounties, amongst which they appeared to live, and the readiness which they evinced to share these blessings with the strangers, of whom they entertained such high notions as they did of the Europeans ; all seemed to hold out hopes, and to flatter imaginings, as to the extraordinary things that might be done in the South Sea Islands. These pleasing fancies were not con- fined to the religious and philanthropic only, but were partaken by the speculative and sanguine of all classes at this period 3 and even the com - mercial advantages supposed to be opening for Britain in this new region, could be spoken of by many in terms only of eloquent declamation. The formation of the Missionary Society was considered as the commencement of a new era in the history of religion and of man. Sermons were every where preached, and meetings held throughout the kingdom ; funds poured in from all quarters for the promotion of the Society's popular undertaking: — for the intelligent of the British jjublic had by this time become almost TO THE SOUTH SEA. 25 familiar as well with the situation and manners of the interesting barbarians of the South Sea, as with the scenety of their own happy shores. The contagion of this generous enthusiasm operated strongly, as might be supposed, even upon the susceptibility of youthful imaginations j not only from a perusal of the amusing narratives of Cook and Anson, but from the manner in which the whole subject seemed to have been brought home to us, in the person of the cele- brated Prince Lee Boo, or by the fascinating and almost as tangible histories of Alexander Selkirk or Robinson Crusoe. Under such favourable circumstances, it w^as not long before the members of the newly formed society found themselves zealously seconded in every wayj and numerous candidates soon ap- peared, who seemed eager to exile themselves from all that was dear to them in Europe, and to engage in the civilisation and conversion of the islanders in this remote region of the globe. At length a committee of Ministers, deputed by the society, selected from among the applicants a com- pany of thirty men, who with the wives of six of 1) 26 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF them, and three children, were approved of, and presented to the directors, to form the first colony, as a commencement of the mission. Of these persons, four were ordained ministers, one a sur- geon 3 the remainder of the men, artisans of different descriptions, and all considered to be animated by the spirit proper for their important undertaking. No less so was the commander of the ship, whom the society appointed to carry out the Missionaries. James Wilson, the captain, was every way qualified for so delicate and re- sponsible a charge J and even the sailors whom he employed, were also selected on account of their being actuated by the missionary spirit ; so that, in contrast to the other vessels in the harbour, the Duff presented the rare spectacle of a ship and her company, exclusively devoted to religion and philanthropy. Every thing was soon provided for the com- fort of the Missionaries, and in aid of the under- taking, which experience and observation could .suggest to men, impressed with the importance of the cause, and anxious for the success of a national experiment, upon which the eves of all TO THE SOUTH SEA. '2/ Europe were now in some degree set. The in- structions of the directors to Captain Wilson and the Missionaries^ preserved in the journal of the Captain, are written in a style of manly philan- thropy ; and we cannot help noticing here the avowed aim of the society in these proceedings, for its simple and noble spirit, and the philosophic terms in which it is expressed, namely, " to de- liver mankind from the greatest possible portion of misery which besets them, and to confer upon them the most abundant measure of felicity, which our nature is capable of enjoying." This, as well referring to time as to eternity, the So- ciety proposed to begin attempting, in the first instance, by their present mission to the islands of the Pacific Ocean. On the 10th of August, 1/96, the Duff weighed anchor at six in the morning, and hoisting the missionary flag, at the mizen-top gallant-mast- head, sailed down the Thames, amidst the cheers and blessings of hundreds animated by the same spirit with those who were parting for ever from their native homes. " At Woolwich," says the journal of one of them, " a vast concourse of people had collected on the shore, to salute us 28 VOYAGE 01 THE SHIP DUI F as we passed." The struggles of a last separa- tion with friends and relations were over; dis- tant seas and foreign shores were now the objects of anticipation to all: they commended them- selves to the guidance and protection of Him who has the winds of heaven at his command ; and thus this religious company, worshipping as they went, sailed from the Downs, '' with songs of rejoicing." Joining afterwards a fleet of traders and transports at Portsmouth, under the convoy of which the Duff expected to get safe out of the reach of the French fleet, it being then a time of war, they were soon off Falmouth, and on a fine Sunday morning, the wind being quite fair, the commodore of the fleet made signal for saiUng, and the Missionaries soon lost sight of England. The voyagers had, in general, pleasant weather, and on the 11th of October, their ship crossed the tropic of Cancer, when, all on board being by this time well recovered from sea- sickness, the flying fish, and other novelties of a tropical sea, over which they were now making rapid way, excited, to use their own expression, " much sur- prise and admiration." On the 14th they touched TO THE SOUTH SEA. 29 at St. Jago, one of the Cape de Verd islands, and sailing thence, they, on the l*2th of Novem- ber, cast anchor under the white walls of the Benedictine monastery in the harbour of Rio de Janeiro. " On entering the port, after a long passage across the Atlantic," says their journal, " the vastness of the prospect fills the mind with the most pleasing sensations." Passing the narrow entrance between two lofty hills, the harbour suddenly widening, shews like an extensive lake, with many islands fancifully scattered on its bosom. The white- washed walls of the city shining in the sun at the bottom of the harbour, with the lofty fortifications frowning over it, and the nu- merous boats emerging from among the shipping, and bringing to these visitors various sorts of supplies, seemed to present a scene which deeply struck the Missionaries. Beyond all," they con- tinue, *' to the north-west, as far as the eye can reach, a range of lofty mountains erect their rug- ged tops ; in their bosoms, perhaps, thousands of human beings are doomed, in search of gold and diamonds for avaricious masters, to spend their days in unrelieved misery. On approaching d2 30 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF the harbour, the tops of the mountains were hid in clouds, but the hills near the shore were co- vered with fruit trees to their very tops. Several fortified islands were around us, and on the main we saw a magnificent aqueduct of about fifty arches, extending from one mountain to another." The colonel commandant of Rio, and his lady, shewed the Missionaries on their landing much civihty, and the English strangers were greatly struck with the beauty of the viceroy's garden, and the view of the harbour from one of the ter- races of the palace ; as well as, by contrast, with *'a scene disgusting to humanity, a cargo of human beings exposed for sale naked in the market- place, while others, in companies of six or seven chained together, were traversing the streets with burdens." This was in 1796, when Rio was en- tirely possessed by Portugese, natives, and slaves. " The number of their priests," says the journal, " is immense. The town seemed no bigger than Bristol, and can hardly contain more than 200,000 inhabitants." They further report that the shops with which the. streets were filled, particularly those of the druggists and silversmiths, made a very noble aj)pearancc, but the number of saints TO THE SOUTH SEA. 31 at every corner, to which the inhabitants were constantly kneeling and crossing themselves, as on many parts of the continent, made the Mis- sionaries exclaim, that the people seemed to be utterly sunk in idolatry. On the <20th of the same month, the DufF again set sail from Rio, having taken in such provi- sions there as the place afforded. Proceeding south towards Cape Horn, they found the atmos- phere free from clouds both by day and night, the breezes moderate, and the weather mild, and they moved along, " as on a mill-pond, enjoying all the blessings of life." But a uniformity of balmy breezes, and a mill-pond track, are not the lot of life either at sea or ashore. On the night of the 29th, the affrightened Missionaries were aroused out of their sleep by the noise of the elements, and crowding on deck found their ship under bare poles, the sea running '^ mountains high," and the heavens sending forth blinding flashes of tropical lightning. The threatened tempest, how^- ever, partly moderated j but after a few days more, finding the weather grow cold as they proceeded towards the south, and becoming apprehensive, of much danger to all in the attempt to double 32 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF Cape Horn, Captain Wilson changed his plan, and rather than run a risk, which had been fatal to many before him, he determined on altering his course for the long passage to the South Sea by the east. Standing, therefore, on this newcourse^ he passed the Cape of Good Hope, a few degrees to the south, on the 24th of December ; intending to keep all along to the south also of New Hol- land and Ne\y Zealand, and then, on getting into the tract of the trade winds, to steer northerly for Otaheite, or more correctly Tahiti. During this long voyage, the Missionaries em- ployed themselves in the study of the Tahitian language, and the details of the geography of those islands, among which they expected to spend the remainder of their lives. Medicine also formed part of their studies, under the in- struction of Mr. Gilham their surgeon, who de- livered to them lectures upon a prepared hum(m skeleton j and such as chose it, learned from each other the several handicrafts of which they were master. On board, the Sunday was always kept in the strictest manner, as it would have been on shore, the Missionary Ministers preaching alter- nately. On the 29th of December, thcv ob- TO THE SOUTH SEA. 33 served an eclipse of the sun which lasted for three hours, and about two thirds of the great luminary being covered, the darkness was very perceptible. On the 29th of January, the Duff passed the meridian of the South Cape of New Holland ; on the 15th of February, the Mis- sionaries found themselves, as nearly as could be reckoned, antipodes to their friends in London -, and now becoming exceedingly w^eary of the mo- notonous prospect of the sea and sky, as they again sailed northwards across the great Pacific, they stood on the quarter deck, and in the language of Saint Paul, '^ wished for land." Ninety-seven days had now elapsed since the Missionaries left Rio Janeiro, in which time they had sailed upwards of thirteen thousand eight hundred miles 5 and after the first week had neither seen ship, nor shore, nor object, except the broad sea, and each other's countenances. But they calculated that the tim'e was now ar- rived when their curiosity and longing for shore was about to be gratified. At seven in the morning of the 22d February, a seaman on the fore-yard arm, set up the welcome shout of land, which was found to be the island of Ta- 34 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF bouai, then above twenty-five miles ofFj but the wind having shifted, it was near evening when they found themselves nearly in shore, the sea breaking violently upon the reefs of rock which surrounded the island. Through the dusk of the evening, the anxious ship's company could see a border of low land running down from the hills towards the sea, from which the tall stems of cocoa-nut trees shot up abundantly between them and the sky. But a sight of the land was all that the Missionaries at this time obtained, for the majority of them having determined on settling at Tahiti, the ship stood away during the night for the latter island, which was still some days' sail from them. On the morning of Saturday, March the 4th, after a stormy passage from Tabouai, the Mis- sionaries beheld at a great distance through the clear atmosphere, the long wished for island of Tahiti ; but during the whole of the day, the variable wind obliged them to stand off and on, between its lesser peninsula and the neighbour- ing island of Eimeo. Passing the Saturday night off the land, occupied with many conflicting emo- tions, on Sunday morning, the 5th of March, by TO THE SOUTH SEA. 35 seven o'clock, the ^Missionaries found themselves wafted by a gentle breeze, close upon the romantic shores of the island for which they were destined, and already saw numerous canoes filled with natives, putting successively off and paddling towards the ship. 3G VOYAGE or THE SHIP DUll' CHAPTER II. Mutual impressions of the Natives and Missionaries — Report of two Swedes found on the Island— The old Priest— Landing of the Missionaries — Flattering reception by the Kin^ and People — House, and district of land made over to them — Reciprocal acts of kindness between Natives and Missionaries — First solemn Address to the People— Departure of the Duff for other Islands. Thk Duff had no sooner drawn near to the shore of Tahiti, than the Missionaries could count not less than seventy. four canoes filled with natives, already swarming round the ship 5 and though Captain Wilson tried to keep the islanders from crowding on board, in spite of all his efforts, there were, in a few minutes, above an hundred of them on deck, dancing and capering like persons frantic, and crying "Taio ! taio !" (their w^ord for friend,) mixed with a few English terms, which had been taught them by former visitors. The joyous Tahitians had neither weapons of war of any sort in their hands, nor much that TO THE SOUTH SEA. 37 could be called dress u})on their persons. The Mis- sionaries began to regard their new uncouth and friends with anxious solicitude ; *' their wild dis- orderly behaviour," says the journal, their ''strong smell of the cocoa-nut oil, together with the tricks of the Arcoies," (a peculiar association among them) " lessened the opinion we had formed of them ', neither could we see aught of that ele- gance and beauty in their women for which they had been so greatly celebrated. This," they add, '' at first seemed to depreciate them in the esti- mation of our brethren ; but the cheerfulness, good nature, and generosity of these kind people, soon removed the momentary prejudices." It is a custom with these simple people for in- dividuals to select from among such strangers as visit them, some one to whom they attach them- selves as their friend or Taio, with whom they reciprocate presents and kindnesses. An aged person, named Haamanemane, who acted as high priest, and who, from various circum- stances, and the confidence with which he was treated by the most distinguished natives, be- came afterwards of much consequence to the Missionaries, was very importunate to be taio E 38 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF with the captain, as were others of the strangers to be on the same terms with the officers of the ship j but as the nature of this engage- ment was as yet very imperfectly understood by the Englishmen, they, for the present, dechned this sudden friendship, to the great surprise of the generous natives. The astonishment of the islanders was much increased, when the Eu- ropeans next declined the offers of hogs, fowls, and fruit, which they brought to them in abund- ance, and that for a reason which the Mission- aries tried in vain to make them understand, namely, because the day (Sunday) being devoted to God, or Eatua, they, the Christians, durst not transact any matter of business or barter. Still more was the wonder of the Tahitians increased, when the offers of their women were also repulsed by the virtuous strangers, for in this respect, former visitors had been by no means so scrupulous. As the extravagant joy and generosity of the natives gradually subsided, many left the ship, and others were driven away by the old priest, who seemed to have much authority among them. About forty still remained, who being brought to order, the Missionaries proposed, as the day was Sunday, to TO THE SOUTH SEA. 39 have divine service on the quarter deck in pre- sence of the barbarians. A Mr. Cover officiated, and during sermon and prayers the wondering strangers were quiet and thoughtful, but when the singing of the hymns commenced, " they seemed/' says the journal, "charmed and filled with amazement." Sometimes they would talk and laugh while worship was going on, but a slight sign or nod of the head again brought them to quietness and order, and that in a de- gree which, considering the length of the service, (an hour and a quarter) justly excited the sur- prise of the Missionaries. A ship called the Matilda having been lost in these seas about five years before, and accounts having reached England afterwards that some of her crew had found an asylum in Tahiti, the Missionaries who had been informed of the oc- currence, now made enquiries as well as they could concerning these men, being not without hopes, that should any of them be yet on the island, they might prove exceedingly useful to the new colonists. The answers of the people were very unsatisfactory, but the news of the arrival of a British ship having quickly spread 40 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF over the island, those on board soon saw two men different from the natives, though tattooed about the arms and legs, and wearing part of the Tahitian dress, coming in a canoe by them- selves towards the ship. When they came on board they proved to be Swedes ; the youngest, about thirty, was named Andrew C. Lind, of the crew of the Matilda ; and the other named Peter Haggerstein, aged forty, had been left on the island by the Captain of the Boedalus. These men were tolerably versed in the general history of the island during their own sojourn in it 3 they spoke pretty good English, and having be- come well acquainted with the Tahitian tongue, the Missionaries considered their presence, and their proffered assistance, favourable omens. It appeared from the report of the Swedes, that upon their first landing in the island, they had been plundered by the natives of every thing they possessed, although they were afterwards treated with kindness ; that the old priest Haa- manemane, was a person of much more conse- quence than the Missionaries had supposed, being a near relative of the king of Tahiti, and having himself been formerly king of Ulicta, a neigh- TO THE SOUTH SEA. 41 bouring island ; and that the name of the present Monarch of Tahiti was Otu, the son of the celebrated Pomare the first, of whom we shall have occasion hereafter to speak. This inform- ation induced Captain Wilson not to allow so great a personage as Haamanemane to remain on deck with the rest of the natives, so he invited him into the cabin and treated him with that dis- tinction to which kings and arch-priests are doubt- less entitled. Yet he did not see fit to accede to the repeated entreaties of his new acquaintance, the ex-king, that he would make him his taio, at least until the following day, when perhaps he should know a little more concerning him. About thirty of the natives, however, together with the two Swedes and Haamanemane, having been per- mitted to sleep all night on the ship's deck, the old priest was so determined upon forming a taioship with the Captain, that awaking at break of day, he took the liberty to rouse the latter also, and to remind him of his promise. " There was no refusing him any longer," says the Cap- tain, '' as even good policy was on his side." So the two, exchanging names, as was the custom of the islanders in the performanee of that cere- e2 42 VOYAGi; OF THE SHIP DUFF mony, Haamancmane wrapped a long piece of cloth of the native manufacture round his new taioj put a teboota over his head, and then made him understand that the present of a musket with some gunpowder and shot^ would be very accept- able to cement alf this friendship. But the Cap- tain having signified that it was not convenient at present to gratify him in this particular, the good natured old priest was satisfied with a pro- raise of re-payment for all friendly services here- after to be performed. On the afternoon of this day, Monday, the 6th of March, the Duff having drawn nearer to the shore within a beautiful harbour, called Matavai Bay, prepared for landing most of the Missionaries on the following morning, while, in the meantime, Haamanemane having departed to pepare the king for their reception, not only did so, but coming again on board early in the morning of the 7th, brought with him to his taio, the captain, a present of hogs, fowls, bread-fruit, cocoa-nuts, and even a (quantity of cloth manufactured by the natives. In presenting these gifts, and his five wives, by whom he was accompanied, and whom he also oft'ered to the captain, but in vain, the old man seemed TO THE SOUTH SEA. 43 Struck with the forbearance of the Englishmen, and with the arguments against polygamy and other of their barbarous customs, which the cap- tain took occasion to introduce : and making a long oration in praise of the English, and of the gods of his own island of Ulieta, he yet acknow- ledged that the British God must be the best, and said that he should request the king of Tahiti and all the people to worship him. About eleven in the forenoon, the weather being fine, the Missionaries and their wives pre- pared to land. Hundreds of natives now crowded on the beach, and as the ship's boats drew near, many of the delighted islanders rushed into the water, and hauling them aground, took the cap- tain and the others on their backs and carried them dry to the shore. Here the strangers were received by the young King and his Queen, who, carried on men's shoulders, as was the custom, had been waiting for their landing ; and taking Cap- tain Wilson and the Missionaries by the hand, they surveyed them for a time in dumb curiosity. But the clearness of the skins of the fair Euro])eans, appeared principally to attract the attention of the Queen, for, opening the shirt of one of the 44 VOYAGE or THE SHIP DUIF Missionaries at the breast and sleeves, the trans- parent complexion and blue veins of the man, seemed to fill her with astonishment : yet this was nothing to the effect produced by the European women and children (such having never before been seen in the South Seas) upon the amazed natives ; who now also, as when they saw them on board the ship, set up a cry of delight and astonishment. The name of the king was Otu, and his wife Tetua. They were both handsome, and well pro- portioned in their persons, particularly the queen, and neither was more than seventeen years of age. The father of Otu was still alive, and not an old man, though the title of king was enjoyed by his son. Pomare, for thus was the young king's father called, (an appellation which seems a favourite with the kings of Tahiti, as they have of late made it hereditary in the royal family,) was properly Pomare the First, he having originally been sovereign of the larger peninsula of the island, at the time it was visited by Cook ; and his son, at present called Otu, and to whom he had in some de- gree delegated his authority, became at his death TO THE SOUTH SEA. 46 Tomare the Second, a name remarkable in the history of Tahiti and of missions. Otu's mother also was still alive. Her name was Idia^ she had been a princess of the adjacent island of Eimeo, and was allied to the principal chiefs who lived at the time of Cook's visit. The pride of birth, and of aristocratic rank, is very great among these islanders, as we shall have occasion to shew; and the persons of the king and queen are so re- spected, that they are carried on men's shoulders, because, wherever they set their feet, the spot is considered sacred, and in some sense, to be used only by themselves. Yet is this royal state and prerogative but little consistent with some of the practices of these august personages, particularly the freedom they use with the heads of those on whose shoulders they ride astride, and what they may chance to find among the hair of those who have the honour to carry them ; and the Mission- aries observed, likewise, that upon occasions when the king and queen came oflf to the Duff in their canoes, her majesty made herself very useful, by baling out the water with a cocoa-nut shell. The reception of the Missionaries in the island of Tahiti was altogether most flattering. They 46 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF were officially welcomed by an old chief, named Paitia, and a large house at hand, which had been built by Pomare for Captain Bligh, a former visitor, whom he expected to return to the island, was in the mean time offered for their immediate accommo- dation. This house was most agreeably situated on a long flat neck of land, which forms the north- ern boundary of Matavai Bay, and which sweeps by the side of a delightful river. It was on this spot that, many years before. Captain Cook had erected tents, and fixed his astronomical instru- ments, for the purpose of observing the transit of Venus ; and Point Venus afterwards became the name by which it was distinguished. Backed by lofty mountains of the most romantic forms, and surrounded by groves of the picturesque trees of these regions, this must have been a charming spot. " Excepting those parts inclosed as gar- dens or plantations," says Mr. Ellis, speaking of it several years afterwards,* " the land near the shore is covered with long grass, or a species of convolvulus, called by the natives poliue ; nume- rous clum])s of trees, and waving cocoa-nuts, add * Polynesian Researches, Vol. i. p. 61. TO THE SOUTH SEA. 47 much to the beauty of its appearance. A fine stream, rising in the interior mountains, winds through the sinuosities of the head of the valley, and fertilising the district of Matavai, flows through the centre of this long neck of land into the sea." The spacious building erected in this delightful situation^ and now put in order for the Mission- aries, was of an oblong figure, and not less than 108 feet in length, and forty-eight feet wide. A ridge tree, running along the roof, was supported in the centre of the area by four wooden pillars, eighteen feet in height -, and the sides of the roof rested upon a range of pillars, six feet asunder, and nine feet in height, which ran round the building 3 the whole fenced by an outer wall or screen composed of wrought bamboo. The roof consisted of a fine matting, laid upon poles, which ran towards the ridge at regular distances of about eighteen inches, and the whole was cover- ed by a sort of thatch, composed of palm-tree leaves, worked in the most ingenious manner. When the Missionaries had taken possession of this building, and fitted it up like a small barrack for their accommodation, adding some out-houses and a garden 3 impressed by present appearances. 48 VOYAGF. OF THE S FI I P DUFF they exclaimed, '' Thus bath the Lord set before us an open door, which we trust none shall hence- forth be able to shut." The next thing the generous islanders did for the Missionaries, besides supplying them, in al- most cumbersome abundance, with all sorts of their native provisions, was to cede to them for- mally, not only the house originally intended for Captain Bligh, but the whole district of Matavai, in the neighbourhood. This singular transaction, so much resembling the solemn treaties long be- fore entered into by the venerable Penn with the assembled chiefs of the aboriginal Americans, took place of course in the open air, in the pre- sence of the king and queen, the chiefs, and high priest of the island, and of Captain Wilson and the whole of the Missionaries, with their wives and children. A transaction so important to the cause of religion and philanthropy 3 a contrast so striking between wild barbarism and thoughtful civilisation, as such a meeting held among the romantic vallies of an island of the South Sea, must have exhibited, — makes this treaty be- tween the naked Tahitians and the sober Mis- sionaries a memorable subject for description and TO THE SOUTH SEA. 49 graphic representation. To these descriptions, we can but briefly allude here j but more remarkable transactions than this were destined to be witnessed among the interesting islands of the Pacific Ocean. The first Sunday that the Missionaries were on shore in the island, passed quietly and agree- ably to all. Having succeeded in making the natives sensible that this was a day devoted to their God, no canoe was allowed to go near to the ship, nor did they offer any interruption to the Missionaries in their worship on shore. But when the king and queen, and numbers of the people attended in their house to witness their religious exercises, the Missionaries, after some consultation, determined to address them through the medium of one of the Swedes, as interpreter. " As soon," says Captain Wilson, " as Andrew interpreted the first sentence, finding the discourse directed to them, they placed themselves in atten- tive postures. When they understood a little of what was said, they put very pertinent questions," but they seemed to doubt whether the benefits of the christian religion applied equally to all ; and their notions of the privileges of rank and station stood in the way of their comprehendinii: how 50 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF it could be, that the British God should send a message to the lowest among them, as well as to their king and chiefs. This practice of interrupt- ing a preacher by questions, was very common with these people afterwards, but the king him- self did not seem at this time to take much notice of what was said^ and made by no means a favourable impression as to his capacity, either upon Captain Wilson or the Missionaries. The first few weeks after their arrival was, by the new settlers, chiefly taken up in reciprocating acts of kindness with the natives, preparing their new habitations, and other arrangements for their permanent comfort. They found a good friend in the old high priest, Haamanemane, who was the principal actor in the conveyancing cere- mony, when the land was given to them ; and to him the captain, his taio, made a present of a metal watch, with which the old man was the more pleased, as of all the British captains who had visited these islands, none had given him such a present before. The management of a watch being, however, a charge for which his talents were as yet inadecpate, Peter, one of the Swedes, formerly mentioned, was directed TO THE SOUTH SEA. 51 to wind it up daily for its new owner. Po- mare and his wife went on board the Duff, as did also the old priest ; being invited into the cabin, they showed an excellent relish for English living, drinking tea and delighting in wine, as if they had been accustonned all their lives to these luxuries. The manner in which Poniare drank his tea is somewhat amusing. His dig- nity not allowing him to feed himself, an at- tendant having poured the tea from the cup into the saucer, held the latter to his mouth, and thus he swallowed his tea, as well as in general his other victuals. '' We were surprised," says Captain Wilson, quaintly, *'to see so stout a man, perhaps the largest in the whole island, fed like a cuckoo." But in this manner he contrived to devour such quantities of victuals, that the Missionaries were astonished, for, at his first supper, he ate a whole fowl, with the addition of about two pounds of pork, and took his drink in proportion. On one occasion, when the old priest was on board. King Otu and his queen, not being dis- posed to go to the ship, sent their presents only, and expressed a wish to see one of the great guns fired. This being consented to, and two of the 52 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF guns being unloosed, the priest desired to have the honour of firing them off, which, although almost blind with age, he took the match and did with the greatest readiness ; and having per- formed this feat, he was quite transported at his own unexpected courage. In the evening, when Pomare and he had eaten and drank freely, the latter began to enquire for amusements ; first, for the letting oflF of sky-rockets, as former cap- tains had done ; next, for a violin and dancing : and finding himself disappointed in all these, taking a roll of cloth under his arm, and twisting his body in a humorous position, like a High- land piper, he seemed to enquire for the gratifi- cation of a tune upon that melodious instrument, the bagpipe. When the chief found that even this piece of amusement was a desideratum in the ship, he was by no means pleased 3 and when some one treated him with a spring upon the German flute, he did not seem quite satisfied with so delicate a species of music. The Missionaries were somewhat inconve- nienced by the anxiety of the chiefs and natives to attach themselves to, or make taios of, indi- viduals, even amongst the sailors of the Duff. TO THE SOUTH SEA. 53 Passini^ over, however, many minor occurrences recorded in the Captain's Journal, we give, in his own words, the following characteristic circum- stance. " To day (the 10th) the Captain landed for the purpose of presenting some showy dresses to the young king and his wife. They met him on the beach as usual. Peter (the interpreter) informed him of what was intended, and show- ing him the box which contained the treasure, desired Otu to walk towards his house, a tem- porary shed they had erected for the purpose of being near our people. This was complied with -, and when they came near, the Captain, stopping under a tree, ordered them to form a ring ; and placing the box in the midst, Otu was requested to alight, that the brethren might dress him. He replied, bye and by, and gazed sullenly for a con- siderable time, till the patience of the Captain was pretty well exhausted ; repeating the request and receiving no answer, they opened the box, and on taking out the dress for the queen she instantly alighted from the man's shoulder, and Otu fol- lowed her example. The fancy cap fitted her ex- tremely well, and she seemed exceedingly proud of it, but it was only by unripping, that the other 54 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF articles could be put upon her or Otu. When com- pletely dressed in this gaudy attire, the surround- ing crowd gazed upon them with admiration. She, true to the foibles of her sex, appeared delighted ; but Otu thought little of them, saying an axe, a musket, a knife, or pair of scissors were more valuable 3 which was saying more for himself than we expected he had had the sense to do."* After this amusing species of ceremony, Haa- manemane the high priest, calling for Captain Wilson at the door of the house, arrayed him in a Tahitian dress, putting an elegant breast-plate over all, and in this costume they all marched to the Mission-house. This latter old gentleman was no less conceited in his person and fond of dress than the most vain of the natives -, for having received from the Captain an old black coat and a glazed hat, the former he had fringed round the edges with red feathers j and when he wore this dress, which he often did with much pride, even the grave Missionaries themselves were obliged to smile at his ludicrous appear- * Missionary Voyage to tlic .Southern Pacific Ocean, 4to. Lond. 1791), pp.69, c^c. TO THE SOUTH SEA. 55 ance. This person was one of the most remark- able characters connected with the history of the early adventures of the Missionaries in the island of Tahiti. Though his views were decidedly worldly in all he did in favour of the Mission, as appears from his own complaint on one occasion, (that the new settlers gave the people plenty of the word, which he called parau, that is, talk, and prayer, but very few axes, knives, or other useful articles) j yet was he a good friend to them in general, and by his great influence, as well as his enterprising character, notwithstanding his age, he rendered them many important services. This eccentric old man, with Pomare and Idia his wife, the parents of Otu the king, were the most remarkable personages on the island of Tahiti, and much more prominent in action, though lower in dignity, than Otu himself. The former had five wives, all very young, and as moral con- duct and the priestly character had no necessary connection here, the old man indulged in all the vices to which a barbarous religion and the de- grading customs of savage life gave him license. The mysteries of the Tahitian religion also (for in common with all idolatry it had deep mysteries,) 56 VOYAGE OF THE SUIT DUFF in which this man was profoundly skilled, gave him that power over the minds and persons of the common people, of which ambitious priests have in all ages been so covetous. The im- molation of individuals on the altars of their idols, was no uncommon practice with the islanders of the South Sea -, and this being done of course by the direction of the chief priest, who had to a certain extent the power of select- ing as well as sacrificing the victim, it is easy to conceive the dread and awe in which such a man must have been held. The real government of this and the neighbouring island of Eimeo, might be said at this time to be divided between this priest and the chieftain Pomare, and a jealousy existed between them in consequence, w^hich had ultimately a fatal termination for the former, as we shall hereafter have occasion to mention. Some time after their landing on the island, an alarm was raised among the Missionaries of some insidious conduct on the part of the natives ; and a threatened attack in the night was pretended to have been discovered by the Swedes, their inter- preters. This information for a time gave them considerable uneasiness, and caused them to watch TO THE SOUTH SEA. 57 in the night by turns, and to apply to Captain Wilson for an additional supply of arms and ammunition. After some debate among them- selves, however, it was at length concluded that the Swedes had, either from mistake or treachery, given them erroneous information ; and they re- solved to trust without fear to the natives, among whom they had come to live, and to providence who watched over them. Soon after this, Haa- manemane the priest, thinking that now was the time for making a descent upon the neighbouring island of Raiatea, of which he had formerly been king, for the purpose of recovering his authority there, by the aid of his new friends the Mission- aries and their fire arms, applied to them and to Captain Wilson to assist him in the projected war. So enterprising and so eager was this active old man, that, with but little assistance from the Europeans, he had already begun to build a schooner, which he principally intended for his warlike expedition. But any danger of becoming involved in the wars of the natives, filled the Missionaries with reasonable dread, and the reply of Captain Wilson and the others was, that they had no orders from their king to fight in any 58 VOYAGE or THE SHIP DL'Fl' cause, except forced to it in their own defence. The priest being importunate, one of the Mis- sionaries, in order to concihate him, promised to assist in the building of his vessel, and that when they had learned the language, they would go to Raiatea and speak to the people on his behalf. With this the old man seemed for the present satisfied, and the Missionaries hoped to turn this matter into an opportunity of commencing their labours in that island also. On their voyage, before their arrival, the Missionaries had agreed, conformably to the wishes of their friends in England, to make Tahiti the head quarters of the Mission, yet to di- vide themselves, if possible, throughout the three groups of the neighbouring islands. In con- formity with this resolution, twenty-five persons, including the four ministers and the women and children, had destined themselves for the chief settlement of Tahiti ; ten more for Tongatabu, one of the Friendly Islands, and the remaining two for one of the Marquisan Islands, named by the Spaniards, Santa Christana. The colony at Tahiti being now pretty well settled, the twelve remaining Missionaries, with Captain Wilson, TO THE SOUTH SEA. 59 prepared for their departure ; and it being deemed necessary to set apart two of their number, espe- cially for the office of preachers, Sunday, the 19th of the present month, March, was appointed for the purpose. The Missionaries describe this solemnity as peculiarly pleasing to their own feelings, and in- teresting from the external circumstances. It having been given out among the natives, that on the next day of God (Sunday) their new friends intended to address them, numbers gathered early in the morning round their dwelling, amongst whom was the chief Pomare with his sister, who said that " he had been dreaming about the book which should be sent him from the Eatua." At ten in the morning the straggling natives were called together from their indolent idling in. the neigh- bouring groves and vallies. No Sabbath bell had ever yet echoed from the hills of Tahiti, and the Missionaries have not informed us whether, on this occasion, they struck an iron suspended from a beam, as Vv'as afterwards done when calling to worship, or blew the conch, or trumpet shell, that was used by the natives. A multitude was soon assembled under the 60 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF shade of some large and lofty trees, and near to the stream which wound down from the moun- tains. Seats were placed for the chief and his sister, while the rest of the natives stood in a circle around. The Missionaries sat close under the trees, their appearance strongly contrasting with the naked simplicity of the islanders, as on the day of the former great meeting when the con- veyance of the land took place. The spectacle could not have been otherwise than affecting to the humane and the religious. '' God so loved the world," was the text of the Missionary who ad- dressed the islanders, " that he gave his only son, that they who believe, might not perish, but have everlasting life." His first preaching in this ro- mantic part of the island, must have been, accord- ing to the picturesque expression of the Baptist, " like a voice crying in the wilderness." '' The Tahitians," say the Missionaries, " were silent and solemnly attentive," although every sentence of the preacher required to be repeated by the inter- preter, and when the whole was over, the chief, taking the preacher by the hand said, " there were no such things before in Tahiti." Nor was the remainder of the service of the TO THE SOUTH SEA. 61 Missionaries among themselves on that day, less solemn and affecthig. The laying on of hands upon two of their number, ordaining them to the same avocation in distant islands, to which they were now about to depart, together with the accompanying charges and responses, was a touching ceremony in these remote regions. Yet, though far distant from that country in which their own God was *' well known," they knew that on that day, being Sabbath, thousands of prayers were oflFered up for their success ; and, though like the children of the captivity, they sung their song in a strange land, they were not without that fellowship which the spirit can enjoy. The sacrament of the communion of which they all partook, added greatly to the solemnity, and the bread fruit of Tahiti was used for the first time, as a symbol and memorial of the great event of the Christian faith. On the second day after this, before daylight in the morning, the Duff, with the remaining Mis- sionaries, weighed anchor, and sailed from the island of Tahiti. 62 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF CHAPTER III. Arrival of the Duflf at the island of Eimeo, and description of the harbour and people— Departure— Palmerston island — Arrival at Tongatabu— Two Englishmen found on the island— Landing of ten Missionaries — Visit of a tall chief, and of a corpulent female of rank— Departui-e of the Duff. Sailing froQi Matavai Bay in Tahiti, amidst a fresh gale with thunder and lightning, the DufF was in a few hours off the north east side of the neighbouring island of Eimeo, the weather having by this time become moderate. Run- ning along the edge of coral reefs into Taloo harbour, they cast anchor quite near to a remark- ably large tree, which grew close to the water's edge. The mouth of this harbour is about a quarter of a mile broad, and the sea, says Cap- tain Wilson, " is of an amazing depth 3" yet is the water so perfectly clear, that a little within the beautiful bay, the bottom can be distinctly seen ; the coral in the most fantastic forms, TO THE SOUTH SE.\. 63 branching along and upwards in the crystal ele- ment. This romantic bay struck the Missionaries as an exceedingly interesting spot. Its deep soli- tude and silence had something awful in it, not- withstanding its beauty, for it is so perfectly " land-locked," that not a ripple of water ap- peared on the shore. It is bordered with trees growing down to the very beech, from the sur- rounding hills, and the vessel lay under a perpen- dicular mountain near its inner end, " ten times" says Captain Wilson, " as high as our top-gal- lant mast." A fresh water river ran up at a navigable depth, several miles inwards among the mountains : a tree resembling the lignum- vitae, mixed with the lofty cocoa nut on the hills, and wholly covered a single small island, which, hke the haunted fairy islands of romance, stood solitary in the bosom of these glassy waters. Amidst the soHtudes which surrounded this noble bay, the Missionaries saw, for the first time in these regions, a native burying place, and after- wards several canoes filled with the islanders, broke the still waters on the bosom of the bay, and were seen to draw towards the ship. When 64 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF the natives came on board, the Captain offering to barter with them for provisions, he found they had brought no hogs with their other articles, by which he first became acquainted with a singular custom. So many of these animals are occa- sionally destroyed by the islanders, in their inor- dinate feastings, or during the ceremonies of their barbarous idolatory, that the chiefs find it neces- sary for the prevention of famine, to lay on, what is called the rahoo or prohibition, upon their most necessary provision, which extends often to the very fish of the surrounding sea, and which for this reason, or from the tyranny of their chiefs, they are not allowed to catch ; nor are the hogs permitted either to be eaten or disposed of while the rahoo is in force. The Missionaries, however, felt no inconvenience from this law, having been plentifully supplied before their de- parture from Tahiti, by their generous native friends in Matavai bay. A number of canoes filled with men and wo- men, had paddled about the Duff great part of the day ; and a considerable number more of the natives, some with only a log of wood to hold by occasionally, and others without any thing what- TO THE SOUTH SEA. 66 ever, swam about and diverted themselves in the sea around, with the carelessness and ease of water-fowls in a pond. The sailors in the ship would sometimes throw them a trinket or some other small article, and though the depth of the sea was unknown to the islanders, they would dive after it, and following it for many fathoms as it sank, scarcely ever fail to bring it up again. Still the manner and aspect of these people indicated to Captain Wilson a disposition to thievish ness, which caused him to watch closely such as he admitted on board 3 and the same night it being very dark, about eleven o'clock the watch on deck observed a naked native standing alone in the main chains without the bulwarks of the ship. The man who first saw the islander instantly attempted to seize him where he stood, upon which he jumped into the sea and disappeared; but when he was gone it was found that he had taken away about four yards of the electric chain which hung outside for the protection of the ship. On the 24th, while the Duff still lay in Toloo harbour, in the middle of the day, as the Captain and Missionaries were at dinner in the G 2 66 VOYAGE or THE SHIP DUFF cabin, a canoe came quietly under the ship's stern, and a tall native climbing up on the back of the rudder, got close to the cabin windows, and reaching in his hand, snatched up a book, the only article near ; with which, giving a spring- backwards, he plunged into the water. Upon hearing this, all those who sat at table started up, and getting upon deck, caused every effort to be made to catch the offender. The man for a long time eluded the pursuit of the sailors of the Duff, with all the dexterity of a wild duck ; but with the assistance of their pinnace, and by frightening him with firing small shot, they with considerable difficulty caught him at last. The poor savage, when the men got him alongside the ship, trembled much and struggled hard ; but a rope having been bound round his body, he was hoisted on board, and then lashed to the rig- ging for an example to his countrymen who by this time had made off to the shore, while they stood round the beach to witness his punishment. Having exposed him thus for a time, Peter, the Swede, was desired to inform him in what light the Ca])tain considered his offence, and simply warning him and his countrymen against the TO THE SOUTH SEA. 67 repetition of similar depredations, the trembling islander was let go, to the great joy of himself and his people. Captain Wilson and his friends found the na- tives of Eimeo far behind the Tahitians in every species of approach towards civilisation ; and so thievishly inclined, that they even stole the rud- der out of the jolly-boat that lay alongside the ship. In the middle of the night of the 24th also, a man was heard by the watch swimming under the bows of the ship 3 and apprehending that his intention was to cut the cable, a shot from a musket was fired in the direction in which he was heard, when he made off precipitately towards the shore. But little was known by the Missionaries* however, regarding the people of this island ; for Captain Cook having long before inflicted severe vengeance on them for stealing his goats, the new visitors were unwilling to trust themselves much ashore, dreading that the mischievous natives might choose to retaliate when they had them as strangers in their power. AV'hile lying in the harbour of Toloo, where the ship was painted and prepared for a lengthened voyage, the Missionaries determined on first sail- 68 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DLFF ing for the Friendly Islands, and then to return by the Marquesas, where the remaining two of the Missionaries designed to settle. This arrange- ment, they considered, would be a saving of time, and enable the Duff to touch at Tahiti for the last time on this voyage, before finally sailing for Europe. Returning for the present again to the latter island on the 26th, to see how the Mission- aries w^ere, they found them in excellent health and spirits, and every thing wearing a promising aspect. Setting sail again on the same afternoon, and accompanied out of the bay of Matavai by many canoes filled with the friendly natives, they were soon off the land again, and fairly at sea on their voyage to Tongatabu. Sailing on to the south of the Society Islands, they passed in sight of several of them ; and visit- ing that remarkable circular cluster of islets dis- covered by Captain Cook on his second voyage, called Palmerston's Island, they had a sight of the beautiful submarine grotto which that circum- navigator has so well described ; and which, con- sisting of fanciful shoots of many sorts of coral, seen perfectly at the bottom of the glassy sea, and glowing with colours that no art can imitate. TO TJIE SOUril SEA. 69 seems to realise all that the imagination has ever conceived of the haunts of mermaids and the fabulous gods of the deep. The islands them- selves are united together by reefs of coral rock, and clad in their inner recesses with nut and other trees known in these regions, among which the Missionaries, who landed on one of the islets, observed numbers of red crabs, but their time did not allow them to prosecute further disco- veries. Sailing on, therefore, and passing several other islands, on Sunday the 9th of April, they saw and stood in for the harbour of Tongatabu. In sailing into the extensive harbour of this island, our voyagers were followed by several boats filled with natives, but one in particular struck their attention from its size, and its having on board about six persons. This vessel carried a large sail, which the natives managed so well, that it shot far a-head of the Duff with all her canvass set, after which the navigators, slacken- ing sail, and falling astern, seemed to wait tri- umphantly for the approach of the ship. When the Duflf had cast anchor, the applications to get on board were so numerous, that sentinels were required on deck to keep off all but a very few, 70 VOYAGE OF THE SUIT DUFF amongst whom a great chief, named Futtafaihe, a man of statelj' gait and noble manner, who appeared about forty years of age, was intro- duced to Captain Wilson. The Missionaries were, however, much disconcerted on finding that these islanders spoke a language quite different from those at Tahiti ; and though their chief talked a good deal, all that could be collected from his speech w^as, that he was a very great man, and that there were some white men upon the island whom he promised to bring to the ship on the following day. While the Missionaries were thus endeavouring to understand the chief, the Europeans he spoke of had slipped on board, and coming unexpectedly among them, gave them the unspeakable pleasure of hearing themselves addressed by strangers in the language of their own country. The Europeans proved to be two English sailors, who had left their ship about thirteen months be- fore, and who having been nearly all this time in Tongatabu, were pretty well acquainted with the native language ; so that in this and other respects they WTre expected to be very useful to the Mis- sion. The account, however, that these men TO THE SOUTH SEA. 71 gave of the disposition of the natives, was not very encouraging, so far as the safety either of the hves or properties of the Missionaries was concerned 3 iron tools, in particular, presenting, as w^as reported, a temptation to these mischiev- ous and subtle islanders, which they could hardly be long expected to resist. Indeed, their conduct on board the Duff, and various suspicious at- tempts they successively made upon her, with the view, it appeared, of driving her upon the rocks in some of the dark and stormy nights then occurring, that they might plunder her at their leisure, were sufficiently alarming ) and it re- quired all the vigilance of Captain Wilson and his men to protect themselves and their ship. It is true, the common natives seemed to stand greatly in awe of the chiefs, who were much better disposed towards the strangers than their thievish vassals. The only chance, therefore, for the ten Missionaries who still, with great courage, persisted in their determination to settle on this island, was to place themselves entirely under the protection of the chiefs, as the two European fugitives strongly advised them. One of these, named Tcogahowe, the most powerful chieftain 72 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUEF. In the island, and the terror not only of the ordi- nary natives, but of all the other chiefs of Ton- gatabu and its dependencies, seemed the most proper personage to become the protector of the Mission. This powerful islander is described as possessing great personal strength, his age about forty, " of a sullen and morose countenance j speaks very little, but when angry, bellows forth with a voice like the roaring of a lion." To this man the Missionaries determined to trust them- selves J he, on being spoken to by Ambler, (one of the Englishmen found on the island,) having ex- pressed a readiness to receive them kindly, and to give them a house to live in, and land for their use. When this chief, accompanied by Ambler, came on board the Duff, the awe-struck natives almost fled at his approach ; an effect which was gratify- ing to the anxious men, who now looked to him as their protector. Captain Wilson, however, in the presence of the Missionaries, and with Ambler for his interpreter, thought it necessary to explain personally to this chief all the particulars of the intention of the Missionaries in seeking to settle on his island, observing, that these men had come TO THE SOUTH SEA. 73 across the sea thus far, solely for the good of the native people, and to instruct them in various important matters ; therefore, the Mis- sionaries did not consider that in affording them a home and protection among his coun- trymen, the chief was conferring upon them any obligation ; so that if he and his friends were not wiUing to receive them upon this understanding, or did not desire their presence and instruction, they were willing to return from whence they came, and to depart on friendly terms, without even making a landing upon the island. Though great pains were taken to make these disinterested views of the Europeans, plain to the savage chieftain, it was hardly to be ex- pected that he should fully comprehend them. He expressed, however, in reply, sufficient to show that he understood great part of what was said, and again ofifering the Missionaries a house, and liberty to do as they pleased, if they chose to put themselves under his protection, he said he would, on the same afternoon, send a double canoe to take their baggage on shore. This promise was punctually performed. The canoe, on its arrival at the ship, was instantly H 74 VOYAGF. OF THE SHIP DUPF loaded, and seven of the Missionaries, accompanied by Ambler the interpreter, and a petty chief, whom Toogahowe had sent in charge to see every thing safe, embarked with the baggage, and proceeding westward in the bay, to a place called Aheefo, at length effected a landing at a considerable dis- tance from the ship. Their progress to the home provided for them, was, however, more toilsome and tedious than they had imagined. The canoe was deeply laden, and a great flat projected out into the sea where they had to land, so that they could not get the boat within half a mile of the dry beach. All this distance they were obliged to wade up to the knees, carrying their goods ; and, in ad- dition to this trouble, they found that the house appointed for them was situated above a mile be- yond the beach. Six hours were the Missionaries and the natives employed in this fatiguing busi- ness. The assistance of the latter was of much service, and not an article of the property was attempted to be stolen, although night overtook them in the midst of their toil 5 and it was an hour past midnight before every thing was safely got in, and they were left to themselves in their new habitation. The weary Missionaries TO THE SOUTH SEA. 75 then commended themselves to God, whose pre- sence had followed them even to the islands of the South Sea, and lay down to rest for the first time, in that spot among the heathen in which they had chosen to dwell. Never, however, had the Missionaries slept sounder in their lives, than they did that night in their new house in Tongatabu. On their awaking, the natives had a breakfast prepared for them according to the fashion of the coun- try, of which having partaken, they returned to the ship 3 and having in the course of the day landed the whole of their property, they and the remaining three Missionaries, making ten in all, soon began to settle themselves in the island, and the Duff to prepare for her departure for the Marquesas. Before setting sail, the ship was visited by a woman of rank from the island, a remarkably corpulent lady, who was attended by many chiefs and a great retinue of females. The respect paid to this stout gentlewoman, even by the men, and the treatment that females in ge- neral received here, differing as it did from their degraded condition in islands seemingly in other respects farther advanced in civilization, was a 76 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF matter which struck the Missionaries much, and induced them to form good expectations of their new neighbours. On the 14th, the morning being delightful, the DuflF again got under weigh, and on the following day was clear of the island and its reefs 3 when the navigators, rejoicing in a fair wind, and good sea room, proceeded cheerily on the remainder of their voyage. TO THE SOUTH SEA. 77 CHAPTER IV. Arrival of the DuflF at Santa Christina— Visit of (seven beautiful females — State of the island — Landing of two Missionaries — Curiosity and rude kindness of the natives — Their feeling — Anecdote of a native who stole from the ship — Amiable conduct of the natives — Kindness of a chief— Cowardice, and strange adventure of Mr. Harris — Peculiarities of the natives— Return of the Duff to Tahiti. It was not until the 11th of June, a little before sunrise, that the captain of the DuflF descried Santa Christina, one of the Marquesan islands. In the course of the passage, which had been tedious and stormy, they passed within sight of the island called Crescent island, but were afraid to land, as the inhabitants shewed a hostile dis- position. They had also seen the group named Gambler's islands : and a small party of them landing on one, which, for want of a name they chose to call Serle's island, were unable to get back, from the dangerous surf on the beach, H 2 78 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF and being obliged to remain all night on the shore without shelter, they encountered no small peril before they ultimately got over the coral rocks, and again reached their ship. All their toils, however, they thought amply repaid, when, on the succeeding day, after first descrying the land, they got safe into Resolution bay, and began to get acquainted with the interesting inhabitants of these islands. Their first visitors from the shore, says the journal of the captain's brother, " were seven beautiful young women," who swam towards the ship without any clothing but a plaiting of green leaves round their waists, and yet kept gambol- ing in the water for nearly three hours, before they would venture, upon the invitation af some of the native men who were by this time in the ship, to go on board. These damsels are described to have been of a fair complexion, inclining to a healthy yellow, rather than the usual tawny colour, and their forms worthy to be models for the statuary or painter. While on shore the women are always dressed with decency, in cloth of their native manufacture ; but this article not being able to resist the water, a short petticoat of TO THE SOUTH SEA. 79 leaves is all that they wear in their frequent aquatic excursions. Their chief, whose father, the former chief, had been known to Captain Cook, came on board soon after the naked ladies. He seemed, to- gether with his two brothers, to have a thoughtful cast of countenance, as if beset with care, or struggling for subsistence. Yet did they, as well as the women, sometimes burst out into extrava- gant fits of laughter, a practice not uncommon to the habitually melancholy ; and then they would talk as fast as their tongues could articulate. This chief seemed to have a strangely ignorant idea of the nature and powers of the muskets of the Europeans, doubtless from seeing their effects in the hands of former visitors. Seeing one lying on the deck of the Duff, he carried it carefully to the captain, and begged him anxiously to *^ put it to sleep." Provisions in this island seemed to be much less plentiful than on the luxurious shores of Tahiti. At least this was evidently a time of scarcity with the simple natives, for while on board the Duff, they complained frequently of hunger, and begged victuals. To some a little 80 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF meat was given, and chiefly to the handsome females; but here they were unfortunately in that state of subjection, that the men made no scruple of taking from them whatever they re- ceived, and were not able to conceal. The women, and others who had no canoes, remained on board the ship nearly the whole of the day ; and when evening drew nigh, they leaped one by one over the side into the sea, and swam like fishes, in a body to the shore. The two Missionaries who had destined them- selves for this island, were a Mr. Crook and a Mr. Harris. When the chief, whose name was Tenae, was informed by the Captain of the intention of two Englishmen to settle among his people for their instruction, the good natured barbarian was highly delighted j and offering them a house to live in, he also promised them a share of all that he possessed. The two Missionaries after- wards going on shore to reconnoitre the place, Tenae, the chief, received them on the beach, and conducted them a little way with much decorum. He was evidently proud of the visit, and desiring to show off the strangers to the natives who crowded round, he made them all halt and form TO THE SOUTH SEA. 81 a ring round the objects of their curiosity, those in front sitting down to allow the others to see over their heads. The mixture of simplicity and feehng in these people, seemed to the strangers very remarkable. The sister of the chief, who was present, allowing her natural curiosity to get the better of her sense of decorum^ or of her obedience to her brother, did not readily com- ply with the order delivered, and a reproof from him^ which was the consequence, affected the poor girl to tears. On another occasion, the refusal of Mr. Wilson to take the brother of the chief to the ship, had the same eflPect upon him, though of the firmer sex 3 for he strode away from the boat in which he wished to be taken on board, unable to make his feelings un- derstood by his language, but shedding tears as he went. When the chief had exhibited the Missionaries in this manner to the people, for about a quarter of an hour, he conducted them up the valley, to show them the house which he intended for their reception. When they reached it, they found it small and mean, compared with the lofty building that their brethren occupied in Tahiti ; 82 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF and all the food that was set before them was a few cocoa nuts. The chief, however, seemed anxious to treat the strangers witVi kindness, as far as his means went. The people in general were glad to get the Missionaries to live with them, and one man, even upon their first landing, ran and stuflFed a piece of mahie, a sour sort of paste, into the mouth of the first he met, thinking, no doubt, that he was doing him an acceptable kindness. Upon the return of the two Missionaries to the ship, the obvious discomfort of the dwelling they had seen, and the apparent difficulties before them in this place, seemed entirely to have damped the ardour of Harris, whose impression from all he had witnessed, was very different from that made upon his brother Crook, as he was by no means willing to be left on the island. The kind reception that the chief had unquestion- ably given them, having.left them no direct excuse for changing their minds, and Mr. Crook being perfectly satisfied, from present appear- ances, with all he saw, and still impressed by the importance of the undertaking ; it was at length agreed that both should accept of the chiefs TO THE SOUTH SEA. 83 invitation for the following day, and that taking their beds on shore, they should make trial of their new quarters at least for one night. On the afternoon of the following day, Mr. Crook landed again, taking with him his bed and some clothes j and as Harris declined for the pre- sent to go on shore, some of the ship's people went with Crook, and a boy whom the Captain brought from Tahiti, was left to keep him com- pany for the night. Tenae, the chief, again receiv- ing the strangers at the beach, conducted them up the valley towards the house as before, and treated them throughout with perfect kindness and re- spect. They found the valley to abound with fruit trees of various sorts, besides the cocoa nut, the ahee nut, and the bread fruit j and that even the orchards filled with these and other trees, were inclosed within walls of stones, built loosely upon each other and formed into squares j these fence walls being often six feet in height. It was late before the officer, who conducted this expedition, was enabled to return to the ship, and it w as on this occasion that, refusing on account of the late- ness of the hour, to take the chief's brother on 84 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF board, the sensitive islander was so hurt in his feelings, as to give way to tears. Mr. Crook, the Missionary, continued to remain contentedly on shore, assimilating himself as much as possible to the habits of the natives, and eating the sour mahie, and other coarse viands offered him, without a murmur. This conduct, and the pains he had taken to make himself agree- able, both before and since his arrival, so won the heart of the generous chief, that he adopted him as his own son; an act held in the most sacred sense by these islanders 5 the chieftain thus admitting the Missionary to the same privileges as his own children. In the mean time Harris was by both strongly invited to come on shore, which, however, he could not be persuaded to do, having become quite cowardly in the Missionary cause, and the privations connected with it in this quarter. While the Duff lay in the harbour, the com- mon natives had given various indications of that thievish disposition so general among the islanders of the South Sea. On the 13th of the month, while the ship's company were at dinner, TO THE SOUTH SEA. 85 one of the natives stole an iron article called a pump-bolt, but before he could get oflf with this trifling prize, he was detected by the gunner and another, and prevented from making his escape. On seeing this, others of his countrymen, who at this time crowded the ship's deck, all jumped overboard and swam to the shore, while the un- fortunate thief was lashed to the shrouds j and a loaded musket being brought out before him, he fully expected to be presently shot. Soon after, a young man, accompanied by a relation of the chiefs, arrived from the shore in a canoe, and having brought with him a present of two pigs, with a leaf of the plantain, presented them to the captain, and earnestly entreated pardon for the ofiFender, who, as it appeared, was no other than his own father : but the captain refused to accede to the petition of the distressed islander, and would not accept his proffered present. The scene that now took place between tlie father and the son was most affecting. They kissed and embraced each other, and took what they con- sidered a last farewell, with deep feeling and evi- dent anguish of mind. This was more than the benevolent captain was able to endure. Taking 86 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF up the loaded musket he discharged it into the air, and then gave orders for the release of the prisoner. The bewildered man could now hardly believe that he was not shot, and that he was to be set at liberty. When he found himself free, and was presented to his son, both were dumb with the consternation of joy. But the Captain would take none of the son's presents, and only warning the offender to beware of similar acts in future, he sent them both away with the pigs and the plantain leaf j and they set off rejoicing in his clemency and magnanimity. While the Duff lay in the bay, and the seamen were engaged in various repairs of the ship and rigging, it seemed strange and almost affecting to these rough men, to find themselves readily assisted " by a group of the most beautiful females," natives, whom they employed to pass the ball of yarn, or to carry from one to another little articles used in the repairs ; and who thus often besmeared their handsome persons wiih the tar of the ship, in the emulous exercise of their willing assiduity. Yet the comely modesty of these simple creatures, aided by the presence of the officers and the good principles of the men. TO THE SOUTH SEA. 87 prevented the least appearance of indecorum 3 and when the evening came, leaping overboard like a flock of sheep, they would swim ashore as on the first day of their coming. These islanders of course knew nothing of Sunday, as making a difference from the other days of the week, and used to swim out to the ship on that morning as usual. All that the captain had then to do, was to tell them that for the day the ship was taboo, their word for sacred, or not to be touched; upon which the docile people at once swam back again to their island. On the 20th of the month, Mr. Crook, the Missionary, went on board the Duflf, and there held a meeting with Mr. Harris, who was to have been his companion, and in presence of Captain Wilson, desired to know his mind as to his in- tention of settling on the island. The impression he had taken of the poverty and discomfort of the place, however, was so strong with Harris, that he could not bear the idea of being left in such quarters 3 besides, he said he could not eat the mahie, and the hogs and fish were far from plentiful. Mr. Crook, though only twenty-two years of age, was by no means so influenced by 88 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF considerations of personal comfort, and much more ardent in the cause he had undertaken. Ultimately, however, Harris consented to accom- pany Crook on shore, and to make another trial of the situation of a Missionary on the island. A sad and almost ludicrous disaster was the con- sequence, such as is frequently the portion of cowardice and imbecility. The generous chief, Tenae, when he got both the Missionaries on shore, willing to shew them kindness, invited them to make an excursion with him to a neighbouring valley. This proposal was perfectly agreeable to Mr. Crook, who wished to see the country; but Harris would, on no account, consent to go. The chief, though disappointed, still desirous to oblige him, left him at home with his (the chief's) wife, desiring him to treat her as his own until his return. To this proposal Harris, with great modesty and simplicity, replied, that " he did not want the woman," and seemed by no means easy under this new arrangement. It was, however, the custom of the place when ex- traordinary kindness was meant to be conferred, to treat a stranger in this way; and the chief not understanding what the Missionary could mean. TO THE SOUTH SEA. 89 left him at home to take care of his household, while his wife looked up to him for the time as her temporary husband. On the departure of the chief, however, the female finding herself avoided and neglected by her new friend, began to doubt if he was like other mortals, and communicating her suspicions to the other women of the establishment, their simple curiosity induced them to watch him nar- rowly, especially when alone. On the night suc- ceeding the first, crowding round him while asleep, they made so much noise, that the poor Mis- sionary awoke in consternation, and terrified at their supposed bad conduct, instead of trying to reclaim them, he determined on flying from a place where the people seemed so abandoned to vice. Accordingly, on the following evening at dusk, having waited all day for the return of his friends, and being afraid to trust himself another night among these naughty women, he dragged down his chest and other articles towards the shore, in expectation of finding a boat to carry him back to the ship. He had not, however, calculated that, at this time of the evening, no boat was near the beach j and the ship was too 90 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF far out to answer his hail. Determined, however, to wait on the shore, rather than go back to the chief's house among the ladies, he sat himself down on the chest, willing to sit up all night where he was, or to be lulled to sleep by the waves of the shore. Here he sat in much dis- comfort, until about four in the morning, when several of the natives crowded round him 3 and showing, to his apprehension, strong symptoms, not only of a wish to help themselves to his baggage, but to assault his person, the poor man was now more terrified than ever. In order to steal his clothes while in this situation, the natives, according to his own account, drove him from the chest } upon which he fled to the hills in the utmost consternation. Here he was afterwards found in a most pitiable condition, and almost out of his senses with fear 3 having been sought out by one of the ship's company, who, upon the news of the disaster reaching the ship, was sent on shore to endeavour to trace him. Bringing him back to the beach where his chest was still safe, the sailors found the surf by this time so high, that they could not get the ship's boat ashore 3 so in order to dehver the poor Missionary TO THE SOUTH SEA. 91 from the apprehended dangers of the island, tying a rope round his body^ and also round the chest, they hauled both through the surf to the boat, and at last had them carried safe to the ship. The experience which Mr. Crook had acquired on the island, led him to conclusions directly contrary to those of the cowardly Harris. Find- ing that Captain Wilson was preparing to depart, he intimated his resolution to stay on the island with no other companions save the kind hearted chieftain and his friends. This worthy young man, having had the good sense to accommo- date himself, as far as possible, to the feelings and circumstances of the islanders, undertook their instruction with perfect cheerfulness 5 and though sensible that the conversation and sym- pathy of a christian Missionary from his own country, would be a great comfort to him in these regions of ignorance, yet as that was denied, he was willing, in the strength of his divine Master, to labour alone, while there was any prospect of doing good among the people. Taking with him, therefore, an assortment of garden seeds to sow in the valley^ with some implements of husbandry, some medicines, books, and other 92 VOYAGE or THE SHIP DUFF useful articles, he contentedly prepared for his sohtary labours. Before the departure of the DufF, the Captain, for the first time, went on shore in the island j and on landing was, as usual, surrounded by a crowd of the natives, who were delighted with the honour of his company in their village. Having partaken of some refreshment in the house of the chief, the party proceeded inland towards the mountains, the upper ridge of which they were very desirous of reaching. The ascent was, in some places so difficult, that only one of the Englishmen and the chief, were able to reach it. The view from the top of the mountain, how- ever, well rewarded the travellers for their trou- ble. Besides the romantic vallies of their own island spread out beneath them, the two adven- turers saw all the other five Marquesan islands, rising up out of the bosom of the surrounding ocean. Tenae, the chief, as they stood on the narrow summit of the mountain, requested the Englishman to fire his musket in the direction of Trevenan's island, now lying beneath them. When the other had done this, the chief seemed to be greatly delighted, as he listened to the TO THE SOUTH SEA. 93 echoes of the shot, reverberating among the mountains. When the party returned from their excursion, the chief had a roasted hog prepared for their entertainment. The hog had not been very fat, and when the company sat down to dinner, some one observed that it was not good. The chief was a man of such feeling, that he was quite affected by this observation, and walking aside, he refused to eat, unless his guest, the Captain, ex- pressed himself satisfied with what was set before him. The politeness of the Englishman was not to be outdone by that of the sensitive islander j therefore, seating himself beside him, and assur- ing him that the hog was very good, the chief was reconciled and seemed to be happy. On the same evening, when the party had reached the beach, the Captain and his friends took a farewell of the chief, and of Mr. Crook, the intrepid and youthful Missionary. The con- duct of the latter was, on this occasion, as manly and gallant as it had all along been. Betraying no sign of fear at being left alone by his friends, nor any way daunted by the work he had under- taken, " the tears glistened in his eyes," says 94 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF one of the journals, "but none fell 3" and he resigned himself to the care of Him, by whom he knew he should not be forsaken. Before we proceed further, it may be necessary to give a slight sketch of the peculiarities which Mr. Crook observed among these interesting islanders, in addition to what may already have appeared. There is no proper government or es- tablished law among them, but the rule of every thing is custom only. Neither have they any regular time for taking their food, but they eat when they are hungry, and that either plentifully or sparingly, according as the season is that of scarcity or otherwise. Like the natives of Tahiti, they have little work or employment, excepting the making of cloth or matting 3 and their nets and cords are principally made by the old people. But this, or the labours of their cooking, take up but little of their time, which, like that of the Tahitians, is chiefly spent in idle ease 3 great part of each day being occupied in sauntering about, or basking in the sun, or swimming and gamboling on the waves of the bay. Their forms are elegant, as has ah-eady been observed ; the men tall and well made, and their TO THE SOUTH SEA. 95 bodies much tattooed -, but the women are lower in stature, though handsome, and some of them are almost as fair as Europeans. "They seem," says Mr. Crook, " to be very fond of their chil- dren J and when I went up the valley, I saw the men often dandling them upon their knees, ex- actly as I have observed an old grandfather with us in a country village." There is scarcely such a thing as sickness or disease to be seen among them, the Europeans having, fortunately, never introduced among this happy people the diseases so prevalent in the Society islands. What reli- gion they have is idolatry, and their gods are numerous J but here, though they often sacrifice hogs to the deities they worship, they never sa- crifice men, as is the barbarous practice at Tahiti and the neighbouring islands. On the morning of the 27th of June, the day following that on which the captain had taken leave of Mr. Crook, he weighed anchor, and set sail j meaning to return to Tahiti, as he now felt some anxiety to ascertain in what circumstances he might find those whom he had left there three months before. Having cleared the harbour of Santa Christina, those 96 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF on board saw, on the ^8th, several lights upon a neighbouring island, and some canoes with natives shortly after reached the ship. On the 3d of July they obtained a sight of the nearest to them of the Society islands ; and on the 6th, about noon, the Duff was again between the romantic highlands of Matavai bay, in the island of Tahiti. TO THE SOUTH SEA. 97 CHAPTER V. Occurrences at Tahiti during the absence of the Duif — Erection of a saw pit and a blacksmith's shop — Description of a romantic valley — Building of a boat — Difficulties of acquiring the lan- guage— Thievishness of the natives — Robbery of the black- smith's shop, &c.— Infanticide of the Areois sect— Prosperity of the Mission and arrival of the Duff. The first thing the Missionaries in Tahiti did after the departure of the DuflF, on the voyage of which we have just given a brief account, and after their own house was divided into com- partments suitable to the married and single among them, was to erect a saw-pit for cutting timber, and afterwards a blacksmith's forge, for the fitting and manufacture of their iron implements. In these necessary labours the natives gave them every assistance, and when they saw them cut a tree into a great number of thin deals, they were quite astonished as well as delighted ; never before having an idea that a 98 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF tree could be subdivided lengthwise into more than two parts. Finding that they wanted thick planks for the blacksmith's shop, the Missionaries informed the king J upon which, saying only, " Harry -mie,'' in his language, meaning in English " come along," one of them went with him to see where he had the wood, he taking with him six of his men, besides the one on whose shoulders he sat. The king started forth up the valley behind the settlement, and entering every house on his way, he searched for and took what wood he wanted, whether the owners were at home or not. Some of the people stoutly resisted, but the king and his men took all the planks that they could find, to the astonishment of the Missionary at this arbitrary proceeding. This latter person having always used the utmost familiarity with the king, boldly told him that he was acting the part of a robber or a thief. This was a view of the matter, however, which his majesty was un- willing to take J and refusing with dignity so opprobrious an epithet, he merely replied, that what he had done was according to the customs of the country. All this time the king dared TO THE SOUTH SEA. 99 not to alight, in justice to his subjects, for, ac- cording to another custom already mentioned, every place on which he sets his foot is made sa- cred, and becomes his own. The man that carried him, however, taking him through places where he ran the risk every moment of breaking his neck, arrived at length upon his own property. Descending from the shoulders of the man who bore him, his majesty now took a stride or two on his own ground, and then asked the Missionary, with much complacency, if that was the manner in which King George of England walked? Being answered in the affirmative, of course, as all kings will be, who seek to be flat- tered, he was highly pleased, and continued to stalk on for several miles, although the rain poured down the whole time. When he had tired himself with this exercise, making the Missionary a present of a hog, in addition to the wood which he had sent to the settlement by his men an hour before, he suflFered him to depart ; being now in high good humour with himself, for so much resembling King George of England. Those natives, who lived in the near neigh- 100 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF bourhood of the Missionaries, having now learned to speak many English words, the latter set about teaching them the alphabet, as they appeared quite eager to learn to read. Others of the Missionaries were employed in building addi- tional houses, which they found were necessary 5 and while all these various works were going on, five of them, to please their adventurous friend, Haamanemane, the old priest, agreed to accom- pany him to the neighbouring island of Eimeo, there to finish the schooner which he had long been building. Setting ofF^ therefore, they found this island quite as romantic as Captain Cook had described it, the mountains round the edge of it having the appearance of the ruins of a stupen- dous fortification. Being well entertained by the high priest and his friends, these five Mission- aries having met with various adventures, in a few days after they had set out, returned to Matavai. About this time, some of those remaining in Tahiti, going inland for wood, had occasion to explore a most romantic valley. They found it to run up between lofty and almost perpendicular mountains, to an extent of about seven miles in TO THE SOUTH SEA. 101 length, whilst the general breadth, at the foot of the mountains, was only about a quarter of a mile. Through this long and verdant pass, a river slowly and silently meanders : at the bot- tom of the valley there is a little descent, and a light breeze sweeps down it continually. The sides of the mountains are almost covered with trees and shrubs, among which, a grey coloured bird, resembling a thrush, makes the groves mu- sical with its everlasting song ; and parrots and parroquets innumerable, with the most beautiful plumage, enliven the beauty and romance of the scene. In this happy valley, there are numbers of the natives who only see the sun a few hours in the day 3 his beams being intercepted by the lofty mountains, leaving a misty shadow, almost resembling a soft twilight, as the prevailing light of this pleasing spot. These indolent people, living among plantations bearing every vegetable luxury the rich earth aflFords in these regions, scarcely take the trouble of gathering the fruit that drops plentifully around them j* yet has their happiness Puckey's Journal, Missionary Voyage, p. 160 K 1 102 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF and the simplicity of their lives been fatally in- terrupted by the unfortunate introduction into their fertile island, of some of the worst maladies that afflict the Europeans. When the blacksmith's forge was quite completed, and the man employed began his work, nothing could exceed the delight and astonishment with which the natives beheld his operations. To see shapeless bars, and pieces of iron, speedily turned into the most useful tools by the blowing of the fire, and the beating of the hammer, was to them like a miracle ; yet some, even of the chiefs, when they saw the sparks fly from the metal, while it was struck upon the anvil, instantly fled, from the notion that it was spitting at them ; and others were particularly alarmed by hearing it hissing in the water. But Pomare, the chief, and father of the king, was not a man to be so easily frightened. Going into the smithy one day, when the blacksmith was at work, he stood for a time gazing in admiration at the transformations of art, until, quite transported at what he saw, he eagerly embraced the sweating workman, touch- ing noses with him according to the custom of the country. TO THE SOUTH SEA. 103 During all this time, the Missionary brethren were almost daily visited by Otu, the king, and his wife, who, with the other natives, continued to supply them with abundance of provisions ; and when their stores of these began to be destroyed by rats, which were as plentiful as any thing else upon the island, upon representing the matter, the at- tention of the king and queen to the settlers went so far as to the supplying them with cats for their protection 3 four of these animals being instantly sent into the Missionaries' premises, from a breed perhaps left on the island by Captain Cook. The Missionaries readily procured servants among the natives. Having cut a sufficient quan- tity of wood into thin planks, and other forms, they constructed a flat-bottomed boat, which they had undertaken by the direction of Captain Wilson, for the purpose of crossing with goods the shal- lows at the mouth of the river that passed be- side Point Venus, the spot on which the principal house of the new settlers was situated. Of this boat the working part of the Missionaries were justly proud. She measured twenty-two feet in length on the rim, six in breadth in her centre, and her i!;eneral breadth was two feet six inches. This 104 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF vessel, considered to be about six tons burden, was launched with great ceremony on the last day of May, with forty of the natives, besides some of the Missionaries, on board. But to the simple Tahitians the new-fashioned canoe was nothing as a curiosity compared to the cuckoo clock, which the strangers had brought with them, and erected in their house, and which at first struck even the chiefs with astonishment and terror. An old chief, named Paitia, already mentioned, actually brought the wooden bird some foodj from an apprehension that the Mis- sionaries were disposed to starve it ; while the king himself was afterwards so struck with ad- miration at its mechanism, that he expressed bitter regret at the comparative ignorance and incapacity of his own people, and those who could fashion such an astonishing machine. Among the labours of the Missionaries at this early period, that in which they found the greatest difficulty, was the correct attainment of the lan- guage for themselves, even while they were teach- ing the natives to read. In this they had but little assistance from the ignorant Swedes, whom at the first they had used as interpreters with the TO TI]E SOUTH SEA. 105 natives 3 and the printed specimens of the Tahi- tian Ianguage,'with which they had provided them- selves while in England, having been hastily set down by circumnavigating sailors, were so incor- rect in all the essentials of language, that they proved to he little better than perplexing puzzles. It is somewhat curious, that the principal written help to its attainment, of which they were pos- sessed, in the shape of a vocabulary, was the manu- script production of a man who had been hanged.* The unfortunate compiler of this work, was one of the officers who mutinied iii the Bounty some years before, who having resided in the island for several months, employed himself in setting down the words of the language, as nearly as he could, in their proper collocation. On the arrival of the Pandora at Tahiti, the delinquent officer was arrested and carried as a prisoner to England, where, having been fully convicted, he was exe- cuted at Portsmouth 3 and it was from the cler- gyman who attended the wretched mutineer in his last moments, and to whom he had left it, * Ellis's Polynesian Researches, Vol. i. p. 71. 106 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF that the Missionaries obtained this useful ma- nuscript. Another of the difficulties that our settlers had to contend with, in this necessary attainment, was the rapid manner in which the natives ex- pressed themselves, and their perfect ignorance of all that makes the elements of words or speech. But this was in a slight degree made up by their extreme loquacity and readiness to talk, or to answer questions. All this they did to the Mission- aries, aiding willingly in their instruction, without any of that ridicule of their unavoidable mistakes, with which, however, they plentifully visited any one among themselves, who so much as mispro- nounced any common word in their language ; and in such exercises they showed a critical ear, be- speaking a greater degree of advancement, in this important particular, than could from other consi- derations have been expected. The singular plenty of vowels in their words also, with their lack of double consonants, and the total absence from their language of the s and c hissing sound, so common in ours, proved specific sources of diffi- culty to the Missionaries in its correct attainment. TO THE SOUTH SEA. 107 Still they persevered with a constant energy, writing down as they proceeded their respective observations, until their endeavours were ulti- mately crowned with success j and the language of Tahiti was transferred to books for the use of the inhabitants, being the first of the Polynesian dialects which, by the industry of Missionary labourers, had been reduced to writing. The annoyances the new colonists met with during the progress of these labours, were not such as to be at all discouraging to them in their main purpose. One of their number, named Meiklewright, had early begun to behave ill to the natives, and afterwards joining with the Swede, Andrew Lind, who ultimately refused to continue to interpret, both these men gave the body of the Missionaries some vexation. The pil- fering disposition also gradually evinced by a portion of the natives, rendered all the vigilance that the new residents could employ, quite neces- sary for the protection of their property. Like the Spartan children, these islanders set much more value upon a thing which they had stolen by their own dexterity, even though it was of no use to them, than a useful article given them in 108 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF barter. A woman stole a looking glass, however, which showed that this rule had exceptions when applied to the natural vanity of the sex. A man was informed against, who had stolen an axe and a check shirt, but being imprisoned, the articles v/ere restored by his friends. Another of the thieves the Missionaries followed to the island of Eimeo, whither he had fled ; and having caught him and brought him back, one of their number lectured him upon his fault. The speaker remind- ing this islander of the kindness shown to him while he was sick, and calling him ungrateful, the penitent delinquent acknowledged with tears that he thought himself " a very bad man." Even the king himself seemed now to en- courage, for his own gratification, a little ingenious thieving from his new subjects the Missionaries ; who had come to his island possessed of so many desirable things. With this intent, he craftily re- commended a new set of servants to the Mis- sionaries, which he forthwith sent to them, desiring them at the same time to discharge their present ones, who he assured them were arrant thieves, and of whom they ought immediately to get rid. But the Missionaries suspecting that those whom TO THE SOUTH SEA. 109 his majesty recommended, were likely to prove the greater thieves of the two ; and that being designed to steal on his account, while the thieves they had, only stole on their own, these last would be much the worst to manage, — rejected his pro- posal, and without any ceremony sent back his thieves as they came. About this time one of them was so audacious as to steal the clothes of Mr. Gilham, the surgeon of the mission, as he went in to bathe. The thief fled, and on being pursued, was traced to a house, upon drawing near to which, the pursuers heard the sound of the native drum, and learned that a large company were there assembled. The Mission- aries, nothing daunted, rushed at once into the house, and found the culprit in the midst of the assembly, finely dressed in the surgeon's clothes, and prepared to entertain his compa- nions with a dance. The whole of those assem- bled, to the number of a hundred, rose in con- fusion upon the entrance of the Missionaries, who begged them not to be alarmed, as it was only the thief they wanted. Conscious, however, of their countenancing the exploit of their com- panion, they fled to a man, while the delinquent 110 VOYAGE OF TIIK SHIP DUFF was seized in bis fine dress, and being stripped, was brougbt in triumpb to Point Venus, and cbained to a pillar of the house. The fellow, however, soon contrived to free himself from his durance, and ran oflF, carrying with him the padlock which had been employed to confine him ; but being taken a second time, the padlock was recovered, and he was sent about his business. About this time a box was stolen, merely for the sake of the nails that held it together. This, however, was nothing to the robbery of the blacksmith's shop. The native who com- mitted this depredation, might have effected an entrance, with the greatest ease, into that place, at the time he chose for it, namely, in the night, by merely cutting with a knife the slight wattles of the boards by which it was built. Preferring, however, the more difficult way, he dug into the earth several feet on the outside of the buildings and burrowing for himself a hole through the ground which went under the wall, rose through the floor of the house, and taking with him several iron articles of value, got clear off. One practice of the natives, particularly of TO THE SOUTH SEA. Ill those of a society among them called Areois, with whom the Missionaries gradually became fully acquainted, was of so shocking a nature that it filled the Missionaries with the deepest concern. This was the horrid custom of mothers murdering their new-born infants, which was practised to such an extent in this island, that the unnatural parents thought it no crime, and committed it without sympathy ) merely saying, as they did also of their idolatrous practices, that it was the custom of their country. The Missionaries and their wives earnestly addressed Idia, the wife of Pomare, upon this subject, having learned with horror that it was her intention to take the life of her next infant as soon as it should be born ; but could obtain from her little satis- faction. They next tried to influence the chief, her husband, in favour of humanity in this in- stance 3 but although he gave his promise that the child should be spared, he either could not, or would not, prevent the revolting act when the time arrived, and it was accordingly perpetrated without remorse. The other vile practices of these Areois, we shall hereafter have occasion to notice 3 but though the Missionaries exerted them- 112 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF selves in every prudent way to save the lives of the helpless innocents, offering to take them from their parents and rear them up as their own, the custom was too rooted among the people, and too intimately connected with their idolatry, for the humane representations of strangers to have much effect. Some slight differences of opinion had occurred among the Missionaries, during the time of the Duff's absence, but not such as materially to affect their ordinary proceedings. They regularly kept up their religious exercises among themselves, and often addressed the natives through the in- terpreter, the King and Queen, old Haamane- mane, and others of the chieftains being fre- quently present. They drew up rules for the respective labours which w^ere to occupy them on each day of the week. Having brought with them a bell, they rung it at six in the morning, assembled together half an hour afterwards for morning prayer, laboured till ten, when they breakfasted, and then spent the time till dinner in their various studies. At seven in the evening their bell rang again for evening prayers, after which the journal of the day was read in presence TO THE SOUTH SEA. 113 of them allj and they retired to rest. The idea of property was by no means lost sight of in this colonial community, and upon the last arrival of the DuflF, the division of the cargo designed for the use of the mission, was a work of some tediousness. Such articles as watches, the Mis- sionaries cast lots for among themselves. The mission thus far, was, upon the whole, pros- pering exceedingly. All employed in it were in good health, and the seeds which they had planted on the island began already to spring up 3 one of the sheep that they had brought with them produced its first lamb -, the English pigs that they had, already began to multiply amazinglv^ a nest of rabbits, six in number, was also added to their stock, and promised soon to over- run the neighbouring vallies : and to crown all, on the ^3d of May, shortly before the return of the DuflF, Mrs. Henry, the wife of one of the Missionaries, increased their number by giving birth to a healthy female child, to the great de- light even of the natives, who admired the infant much, and wondered exceedingly that a white woman should have chosen to perform such a feat amongst them. This infant was soon after L 2 114 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF baptized with no little ceremony, and to the in- creasing amazement of the natives -, who at- tended, and " looked with wonder," says the journal, ''as if inquiring what these things might mean." While all these things were going on, one morning a great shout among the natives apprised the Missionaries that something novel had taken place, and looking towards the bay, the white sails of the returning Duff appeared already in sight. They immediately went off to meet her in their flat-bottomed boat, and many were the congratu- lations and enquiries that passed between the parties. The return of the Duff to Tahiti, for the last time before her final departure for Europe, brings us now to the point with which we con- cluded the foregoing chapter. TO THE SOUTH SEA. 115 CHAPTER VI. Pedestrian Travels roiind the Island of Tahiti, by Mr. Puckey — Appearance of the Country, and Hospitality of the Natives — Their state of compai-ative civilisation — Effect of the fcastings of the Areois, &c. upon the country— Their night-revelling — Pomare's house and conversation — The great Moral, at Obera — The Altar and Ark of Atua — The great Feasting-house — Romantic appearance of parts of the countr>- from the Coral shore. Before the last arrival of the Duff at Tahiti, some of the Missionaries had made a tour of part of the island, chiefly with a view to ascertain the amount of the population. Their report, how- ever, not being supposed to have been sufficiently correct, a more particular survey was proposed to be undertaken, while the Duff lay in the bay 5 for which purpose, Mr. Puckey, one of the Mission- aries, was appointed to go round the island, taking with him Peter Hagersteine, the Swede, for a guide and interpreter ; and as this journey comes under the head of Missionary travels, we shall give a brief account of Puckey's chief observations. 116 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF On the Ilth of July, the Missionary and his guide, accompanied by two men to carry their travelling necessaries, and one whose duty it was to bear them across the numerous rivulets by which the island is intersected, set off on foot to travel eastward through the district of Matavai, and thence along the coast round the whole island. As they proceeded out of the immediate vicinity of the settlement, they found the land very much encumbered with brushwood, and their road, or rather path, far from pleasant to walk on, from a species of burr growing upon the long grass of the lowlands, which stuck to their stockings as they passed through it, and gave them much annoyance ; and the heat being great, they also found the flies at times exceedingly troublesome. But in the clearer grounds, their journey was pleasant, great part of it being under the occasional deep shade of the bread fruit and cocoa-nut trees, which grew wild every where in great per- fection ; while their view of the wide sea on one side, and the romantic scenery of the interior on the other, was generally extensive, and often sin- gularly interesting. In the woods they found TO THE SOUTH SEA. 117 the cotton-tree and sugar-cane growing wild^ but not luxuriant, and small plantations of the latter, and the ava-tree, near the houses of the natives. Coming to the house of one of the chiefs, who, however, was not at home, but, with his wife, lived at another of his country-seats, called Oparre, they found the mansion uncommonly neat and clean, A smooth platform of gravel stones was laid out before his door, which was levelled like a carriage way, and in front of this, a regular row of cocoa-nut trees, bore, doubtless, some resemblance to an English gentleman's avenue. The Missionary gives no account of any pond on the pleasure-grounds of this Ta- hitian squire, but found a pleasant rivulet of sweet water from the hills running j)ast the side of his house *, and the servants busy (in groups on the grass,) preparing a dye, of a brownish * The honest Missionary's account of what he saw on his journey is but barren for such a subject, as well as destitute of scientific observation ; and like that of many tra- vellers nearer home, more taken up with the badness of the roads and the goodness of the dinners, than with any remarks of such interest as might be expected. We are therefore obliged to help it out with an occasional inference. 118 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF colour, from the bark of a tree -, bruising the liquid into a bowl, and softening the bark in the water, until they obtained the shade they wanted. Ascending hills and wading rivers, (in the lat- ter of which exercises Mr. Puckey rode, like King Otu, on a man's shoulders), the travellers passed many beautiful valleys, but found the face of the country by no means of an uniformly in- teresting character. Some of the districts he describes as " little better than a wilderness of rank weeds and useless trees," and that, even in the lowlands, where moderate culture would ren- der them fertile and valuable. Through such places, and away from the sea, their journey was sometimes most fatiguing and cheerless ; and when by the sea-side, their road often lay along high cliflFs and on ridges of rocks, projecting over the chafing sea, which raged many fathoms below, and on which they almost feared to look. But as they proceeded through the country, they were always well entertained by the hospitable natives, who roasted pigs for them, and lodged them in their houses, generally receiving with satisfac- tion a trifling present in return. It being the custom to carry away with them the fragments TO THE SOUTH SEA. 119 of what was set before them, the Missionary and his companions were never at a loss for food during the whole of their journey, although they found the population infinitely thinner than Captain Cook had imagined it, principally from the effects of the horrid crime of infanticide, which they found to prevail in the interior of the island, even among the common inhabitants. The principal thing that struck the traveller, w^as, perhaps, the general comfort and compara- tive civilisation of the simple natives, but par- ticularly of some of the industrious chiefs, whose houses, in some cases, were above an hundred feet in length, and whose gardens, or plantations of Ava, were laid out with taste, in the European fashion, disposed in parallel beds, with trenches two feet deep between them, — a handsome fence of bamboo inclosing the whole. One of them could speak a number of EngHsh words, which, together with several of the customs of the Europeans, he had learned from successive visitors at the island ; and at his house, this chief, having had a hog roasted for the entertainment of his guest, drove four stakes into the ground and laid boards*upon them to serve for a table. Having upon this 120 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF spread a clean cloth, in the English fashion, he accommodated his visitor also with an English plate, and making many apologies for the want of a knife and fork, entertained him in a style of great politeness. At one place on the coast, the travellers fell in with a man with whom the interpreter had for- merly been acquainted, who regularly followed the trade of a fisherman, obtaining from among the coral reefs before his door, among other fish, lobsters and mullet, so well known in England, a portion of both of which he gave to his visitors. This honest tradesman sold his fish to his inland neighbours, who supplied him in return with their hogs, fruit, roots, cloth, and canoes. At another part of the coast, the residence of a chief, the travellers saw a new double canoe just built, the length of which was fifty-eight feet, and the ornamented stern twelve feet high. Spars or rafters bound the two together in the usual manner, making a level platform betwixt them, where a house was intended to be raised for the accommodation, when at sea, of the chief and his men. Mr. Puckey remarked, that in all the houses along the coast, the inhabitants were TO THE SOUTH SEA. 121 provided with iron tools, particularly hatchets ; and the stone hatchet which they formerly used, seemed likely soon to become a curiosity even to themselves. When asked the length of time which it would take them now to build a canoe, the natives answered, about a moon j but when they were further questioned how long they had formerly been about such an enterprise, when they had only stone hatchets to work with, they laughed heartily at the idea, and counted in answer, ten moons. They seemed even to un- derstand something of paper currency ; for at another place, the residence of a chief named Teboota, — " after," says the Missionary, '' receiv- ing a good dinner from Teboota, and much kind treatment, my followers packed up the frag- ments," for the entertainment consisted of roast fowls and a young pig, '" and I paid our gene- rous host with a draft on the captain" (whom the chief had known) " for a pair of scissars ; and as they have no doubt of the specified value of the paper, and have learnt how to negociate the notes, he seemed to think himself quite rich. What a commencement," adds the Missionary, " of civilisation. ' 122 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF In proceeding on their journey they came, to a few houses, in one of which lived the mother of one of the young men who followed the Missionary as his servant. The old wo- man, to express her joy at meeting with her son, struck herself several times on the face, &c., with a shark's tooth, until the blood streamed down over her neck, while the son looked on without attempting to prevent her. She continued to wound herself in this cruel manner, as is usual with the natives when they express either joy or grief, until the humane Mis- sionary checked her angrily, and appealed also to the son. He, however, seemed no way moved by this painful barbarity, but coolly replied, that it was the custom of the country. Further on, going into another house, where Peter, the in- terpreter, was known, he mentioned to the people that, having travelled far that day, they had not eaten any thing since the sun w^as at a certain heighth in the heavens, their usual mode of indi- cating the time of the day. When the natives heard this, " it was impossible to behold with indifference," says Mr. Puckey, " the joy w'hich these kind people expressed on having an oppor- TO THE SOUTH SEA. 123 tunity of entertaining me." Fowls and a pig were dressed with the utmost speed, and "after enjoying a comfortable meal," which the good Missionary always did enjoy when he could, " as the cool of the evening by that time drew on," he continues, *' I got Peter, who, as well as myself, was rather tired with the day's walk, to accompany me to the top of one of the adjacent hills, on each side of which ran a deep valley. From the centre hills, towards the sea, for a Httle distance up, the hills abounded with cocoa-nuts and bread-fruit, and the more interior parts with mountain plantain, tarro, and a variety of plants which they (the natives) have recourse to when the low land cannot supply all their wants. Asking Peter what reasons they gave for not cultivating more of those articles on the low ground, as it w-as evident they would grow as well, or better, there ; he said it was on account of the havoc made by the Areois, (a sort of wandering dancers), and those who accompany Otu (^the king) in his feastings round the island j at which times, though they only stay two or three days in a district, they consume and wan- tonly destroy all the produce, and often the 124 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF young plants, leaving nothing for the settled inhabitants of the place to subsist on, but what they derive from the mountains. On this ac- count they submit to the trouble of climbing almost inaccessible places, rather than expose much of the produce of their labour to those privileged robbers." At another place where he stopped, the Mis- sionary found a large company of these strange people, the Areois, each man having his own wife with him, *'who," says Mr. Puckey, '*by the attachment they showed for their husbands, seemed to discountenance the assertion of the promiscuous intercourse with which they are charged. Their great numbers," he adds, '^ made the house, which was one hundred and forty feet long, ap- pear Hke a little village," or rather, perhaps, like the interior of a barrack, "where each claimed the place on which his mat was spread 3 and almost all were employed in making mats, cinnet, &c." The further account which the Missionary gives of the strange mode which this singular sect have of spending their time, is curious, and we give it in his own words. *' As soon as it was dark they brought lights, and danced and sung till near TO THE SOUTH SEA. 125 midnight, and perhaps would have continued all the night, had I not begged my taio (friend by agreement) to cause them to desist 3 for the drums appear not to disturb their sleep 3 but when tired with dancing, they lie down, and a fresh party rises to the sport 3 and in this manner the Areois usually spend their nights, and thus they train the youths to the same irregular liv- ing."* In his route the Missionary had also occasion to lodge a night in the same house with Pomare, the first chief on the island, with whom he re- ciprocated salutations on their meeting by touch- ing noses, and who received him with much politeness, enquiring for Captain Wilson and all his other EngUsh friends. Their sleeping places being near together, the Missionary could get little rest all night, as the chief and his people were incessantly talking. He asked Mr. Puckey many shrewd questions, regarding what he had seen on his voyage from England, both himself and his retinue regretting much their want of ships at Tahiti, to enable them to sail to a distance from * Missionary Voyage by the Duff, p. 209. M 2 J 26 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF their own group of islands. They also compared with concern their own poor knowledge in nau- tical affairs, and their maritime pov-erty, with the skill of the English and their noble vessels j with which, as they observed, they could venture out into the widest seas with the utmost confidence 5 and through the darkest nights, and amidst the strongest gales, could, by some power of calcula- tion which they could ill comprehend, come ex- actly at length to their island of Tahiti. They also asked many questions as to what the Missionaries had seen of the advantages and condition of the other islanders in their own neighbourhood, and were much interested with the answers they ob- tained -J but when the Englishman expatiated to the chief upon the various wonders of Europe, the barbarian was at first astonished, but soon lost all comprehension of the nature of things so different from all that he had himself seen. The Missionary particularly told him, of the singular advantages his countrymen derived from what was told them in " the speaking paper," or book, which had been sent to them from their God 3 and which he and his friends had come so far to teach also to his people and their children, that TO THE SOUTH SEA. 127 they might learn to do what was good, as well as to be at length wise and powerful like the Euro- peans. To these things the chief seemed to pay much attention, saying in his own language, that it was all very good. The discourse upon this subject, however, soon put him to sleep. When our traveller had got to the Western part of the island, he proceeded a short way into the interior, to see the curious pile called the Great Moral (or place of worship) of Obera, which had been noticed by Sir Joseph Banks, Capt. Cook, and others, and greatly attracted the attention of all visitors to this interesting island. He de- scribes it as "an enormous pile of stone work, in form of a pyramid, on a parallelogram area," with "a flight of ten steps quite round it, the first of which from the ground is six feet high, the rest about five feet : it is in length, at the base, two hundred and seventy feet, width there, ninety-four feetj at the top, it is one hundred and eighty feet long, and about six wide. The steps are composed partly of regular rows of squared coral stones about eighteen inches high, and partly with bluish-coloured pebble stones nearly quite round, of a hard texture, all about 128 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF six inches in diameter, and in an unhewn state. The inside, that is to say, what composes the solid mass, for it has no hollow space, is com- posed of stones of various kinds and shapes. It is a wonderful structure 3 and it must have cost the builders immense time and pains to bring such a quantity of stones together." How a people, without carriages or beasts of burthen, could convey such a solid mass of stone to this inland spot, is truly astonishing, *'and particu- larly," adds the Missionary, must it have been difficult " to square the coral of the steps with the tools they had when the building was raised, for it was before iron came among them : and as they were ignorant of mortar or cement, it must have required extraordinary care to fit the stones regularly to each other, that it might stand ; and a perseverance in the whole work, that is amazing in a people so little advanced in civilisation." The Missionary informs us, that when Sir Joseph Banks visited this curious building, there was, on its summit, a representation of a bird carved in wood, and, close by it, the figure of a fish carved in stone. How these rude sculptors TO THE SOUTH SEA. 129 could carve such an effigy in stone, without an iron tool of any kind, is also most surprising. Both of these images were, however, gone when the Missionary visited this place 3 some of the stones had fallen out of several of the upper steps J and a wall which surrounded it, with a flat pavement which had been laid within the court, was, at this time, fast getting into ruin. Within the court, there is still a house which is called the house of the Atua, or God, in which a man constantly resides. Not far from this spot, and amidst the groves and solitudes of a great valley, the missionary found another Moral, and near it, a great altar for the offerings of the people to the Atua. This erection was a large matted plat- form, not less than forty feet long, and seven feet in breadth, resting upon sixteen pillars of wood, each eight feet in height. The matting with which this stage was covered, hung some way down the sides, all round, like a table cloth j and upon tliis rude altar, the natives, ignorantly aiming at a propitiatory offering to the Great Spirit, laid their most valuable provisions, con- sisting of whole hogs, fish, turtle, and fruits, which, being left to the God, only putrified in 130 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF the sun, and turned this beautiful valley into a scene of rankness which filled those who ap- proached it with disgust. Still more melancholy was the reflection of the Christian visitor, upon the ignorance and idolatry of these poor islanders, when the ark of the Atua, which they believed to contain their God himself, and which was kept in a house near, was brought out and laid before him. This wretched article was a sort of box, about four feet long, covered with cloth, the ends ornamented with bunches of coloured feathers ; the whole being composed of two parts lashed upon each other, bearing no slight resem- blance to a sailor's hammock when rolled up. Those who brought it dared not allow the Mis- sionary to see what it contained, nor could they they be brought to admit that it did not con- tain a great Spirit, who, when he was angry, caused their trees to bear no fruit, and brought many ills upon them in the present life 3 but in all that they expressed, these natives intimated nothing in connection with their god, that had any reference to a future state. Another of the artificial curiosities which the Missionary found on his survey of the island, was TO THE SOUTH SEA. 131 a sort of public building terminating a district, which was no less than three hundred and ninety- sev^en feet in length, forty-eight feet in width, and twenty in heighth in the middle of the roof, and supported by a hundred and twenty-four wooden pillars or posts, running round the sides of the building. This hall for public meetings was surrounded by a good wall of timber 5 and here on great occasions, the natives meet for their feastings, which often last, as the visitor was informed, for many days together, during which they destroy almost all the hogs on the island. Thus, by their idolatry, their horrible infan- ticide, their occasional intemperance in eating, and even in drinking, (for they obtain the stupor of intoxication by a liquor made from the ava, which is much in use among them), these islanders grossly misuse those blessings of nature by which they are surrounded, and brutify those amiable dispositions, which, notwithstand- ing all this, they often display. The face of the greater part of their country is not only like a garden continually in bloom, but possesses romantic features, which make it almost a 132 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF paradise ; and, together with the delightful climate, render the island a most desirable region for the enjoyment of existence, and an interesting field for the efforts of philanthropy. We conclude this brief sketch of the first missionary survey of this island, deservedly styled the Queen of the South Sea, by quoting the words of Mr. Puckey, in describing one part of it, where the winding shore, near which he stood, swept round like a circle inclosing reefs of coral. " The reef," he says, in this scrap of picturesque description, " lies a considerable way oflF, within it the water is smooth and shallow, and the bottom a fine white sand, in- terspersed with a beautiful coral, which makes the rowing over it delightful. Here the island puts on its most beautiful appearance. A large border of low ground is covered with cocoa, palms, and bread-fruit. Extensive valleys run considerably in-land, and the sides of the hills which form them, are covered with fruit trees, and their tops with grass. The lofty mountains in the higher regions, are also covered with trees, or broken into awful precipices ; and by their TO THE SOUTH SEA. 133 various shapes and distances, and the clouds which hover over them all the day, add a sublime grandeur to the beauty of the scene below." In the great valley where the altar, before mentioned, is placed, the travellers found, in addition to the picturesque trees common in the other parts of the island, turmeric and ginger, growing wild, and in abundance. 134 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF CHAPTER VII. Departure of the Duff from Tahiti— Touches at Huahine— Connor the Irishman— Arrival at Tongatabu — Slight progress of the Mis- sionaries, and villainy of Ambler, &c. — Account of the Funeral of the King of the Island— Character of the Inhabitants — Reli- gious belief— Manners and Capabilities, &c. — Departure of the Duff, and her arrival in England. The calculations which Puckey's survey of the island had enabled him to make of the whole po- pulation of Tahiti, made it amount to no more than 16,050 persons, instead of 200,000, as Cap- tain Cook had supposed it to contain at the time of his last visit. When the surveyor returned to Matavai, he found the Duff's people, with the four Missionaries appointed on the occasion, still occupied with the division of the cargo among those who remained on this island, and the apportioning a part of it to those who had settled at Tongatabu. This tedious business having at length been finished, TO THE SOUTH SEA. 135 and some arrangements made by the Missionaries, for the building of a good-sized vessel for carry- ing them to the islands in the neighbourhood, and also for the erection of another place of residence upon a more eligible spot, the Duff being again made ready for sea, Captain Wilson took an affec- tionate farewell of the colonists, and on the 4th of August finally set sail for Europe ; intending, however, to touch again at Tongatabu with the remainder of the necessaries intended for the use of the Missionaries whom he had formerly left on that island. On the day after the Duff left Tahiti, she found herself off the neighbouring island of Huahine, so important, many years after, as a Missionary station, but at this time harassed continually by the interminable wars of the restless natives, who are at constant feud either among themselves, or with their neighbours of the island of UHetea, and are hence much more courageous than the peaceable Tahitians. When the Duff drew near^ a number of the inhabitants of Huahine came on board, among whom was one Connor, an Irish- man, who had been one of the crew of the ship- wrecked Matilda, and whom the Missionaries had 136 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF heard of at Tongaiabu. When Captain Wilson came to speak to this man, he found, to his asto- nishment, that he had forgotten his native tongue to such a degree, that if he attempted to begin a sentence in Enghsh, he hesitated, and was obHged to finish it in the language of the islands. He, us well as the natives who accompanied him, strongly urged the English captain to go ashore and make some stay at their island. This not being agreed to, the Irishman requested to be taken home to England ; for though he had by this time a native wife and a child on the island, he con- sidered his life and theirs in continual jeopardy, from the cruel wars of the restless islanders. Going on shore, however, to take a final leave of his wife and child, the poor Irishman found that, like many others of his countrymen, he had a warmer heart in his bosom than even he himself suspected. Overcome to tears by the sight of his infant, a beautiful baby about nine months old, from which he in vain attempted to tear himself, after going and returning to the ship, carrying the child all the time in his arms, his affection at last entirely prevailed ; and informing the captain that he found it impossible to leave his infant, and TO THE SOUTH SEA. 137 that its mother would not consent to part with it, a few useful articles being given him, he finally returned to pass his days with the savage people, rather than be separated from his wife and his oflFspring. The case of this poor Irishman, who had al- ready lived above five years among these islands, affords a remarkable instance of the power of circumstances, even over those who have expe- rienced the advantages of civilisation. For- getting almost entirely his native language, reli- gion, and habits, and assimilating himself to the life and customs of the savage people among whom he lived, he passed his days in indolence, or in fishing, and sporting with the natives 3 and felt himself only discontented when their san- guinary wars, in which he had often been obliged to engage, put him in dread for the safety of himself and for his new family. Finding the qualities upon which he had learned to value him- self whilst in Europe, almost entirely unnecessary in these remote regions, and for this simple sort of life, he never troubled himself to cultivate them, as he had given up all thoughts of return- ing to where they were requisite; and he had N 2 138 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF thus even lost all remembrance ot" the time which had elapsed since he took to this new hfe, and made a mistake of about three years when he attempted to reckon it. Having set sail from Huahine, the Duff, on the 18th of the same month, again cast anchor in the large harbour of Tongatabu; and one of the Missionaries having come off to the ship, gave information of their general health, and of their having found it necessary for their more convenient support, to separate themselves during the absence of the ship, and to live in parties of two or three under the protection of diflferent chiefs. This necessary precaution, however, hav- ing deprived them of the advantages of associ- ation, they were not making that progress in the purposes of the mission, nor even in learning the language, which their brethren at Tahiti had done. Nor was the disposition of the people on this island at all so favourable to the great design of the Missionaries, in several respects, as it seemed among the Tahitians. Added to this, the con- duct of the two English and Irish sailors named Ambler and Connolly, whom they met on the TO TIJE SOUTH SEA. 139 island on their first arrival 3 together with that of another Irishman, named Morgan, who had joined them from the neighbouring island of Annamooka, was so bad, both towards the Mis- sionaries and the chiefs of the island, between whom and the former they were constantly en- deavouring to excite broils and suspicions, that it had long given all parties great uneasiness 3 and first gave rise to the reflection so often re- peated afterwards, and set down by ]Mr. Ellis in his account of his subsequent experience in these islands, — as "a. melancholy fact, that the influence of unprincipled and profligate foreigners, has been more fatal to the Missionaries, more demo- ralizing to the natives, more inimical to the in- troduction of Christianity, and moje opposed to its establishment, tlian all the prejudices of the people in favour of idolatry, and all the attach- ments of the priests to the interests of their gods."* These wretches were often checked and reproved, or their wicked suggestions spurned with indignation, even by the more virtuous savage chieftains themselves j and in the island * Polynesian Researches, vol. i. p. 89, 140 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF of Tahiti, after the departure of the Duff, Peter the Swede, who ultimately became as trea- cherous as the others, often said to King Otu, as he was carried about, and when he happened to come upon the Missionaries while these un- suspicious men were engaged in prayer among themselves, — " See," said the wretch, " they are down on their knees, quite defenceless 3 how easily your people might rush upon them, and kill them all, and then their property would be yours !" It was this sort of villainous conduct that was afterwards a great cause of driving most of the harmless Missionaries from their benevolent labours in these remote islands. In many respects the occurrences which hap- pened to the Missionaries, who had settled in Tongatabu, were pretty similar to those already detailed in our brief account of the early expe- rience of those living on the more agreeable island of Tahiti. In the course of their labours, — while building smithies and other houses, making inclosures for their hogs, digging their gardens, and planting the European seeds and roots, — the natives attended them with a curiosity that was troublesome, and often obliged the Missionaries TO THE SOUTH SEA. 141 to drive them away. Most of the chiefs treated their new friends with a considerate kindness, particularly the one formerly mentioned under the name of Futtafaihe, who received them, on their first going to his house, with a disinter- ested politeness, apologising for the meanness of his habitation, and the small value of his gifts, and showing none of the ordinary avidity of these islanders for the presents they brought him. When the Missionaries had partaken of the re- freshments which were set before them by this hospitable chief, he took his guests to the beach, near to which his house was situated, and point- ing to a group of small islands which lay in sight, he advised them to make choice of one of them for their usual residence and as their property, saying at the same time, that any that they might choose was entirely at their service. Landing next day on one of these islands, the Missionaries were shewn a well which they were told had been dug by Captain Cook, and which was both large and deep ; but the water it con- tained was by no means good. Having crossed to another, in which they found abundance of cocoa-nut, plantain, and bread-fruit trees, as also 142 VOYAGE 0¥ THE SHIP DUFF sugar canes, and good fresh water, they came upon a curiosity which is worthy to be noticed. This was a peculiarly shaped coral rock standing upon the beach, which rose to the height of five feet, was four feet thick, and formed like the stump of an old tree. This remarkable piece of coral was much perforated with holes, in which were numbers of water snakes, about thirty inches long, and their skins beautifully variegated, which the natives would not allow to be touched, calling them agees, or sacred animals. The bodies of these creatures were ornamented by nature with alternate circles of black and white from the tail to the head, each ring being about half an inch in breadth, relieved along the back by a beautiful streak of ultrama- rine blue. Though not poisonous, these snakes were represented to be very dangerous, the natives saying that they would kill a man by twisting themselves round his neck, and then biting a hole in his throat. During their travels through this island, the Missionaries found here also a house, that was 118 feet long, and fifty-six wide, and thatched with great neatness. Several beautiful spots, and large groves of cocoa-nut trees, extending as far as the TO THE SOUTH SEA. 143 cliflFs above the sea, were also observed upon the island, with pleasant springs of fresh water, one of which gushed out from the recesses of a rocky cavern, into which the sea flowed at high water. The face of the country in this island is generally level. Before some of the houses of the natives were handsome green areas, and they cultivate and fence their lands in a very neat manner. Near the houses they generally lay out their lands in fields or small inclosures, the whole being named an abbey, and surrounded by trenches into which these fences are set. The fences are made of reeds plaited close together, and supported by stakes of the banana or some other tree, at short distances, which, taking root, form a sort of hedge rows, bearing fruit. In these fields the natives cultivate their great favourite, the Ava root, and some other esculents, as also yams, &c. They work squatted on their hams, hoeing the ground and digging it up with an instrument five feet long, pointed, with sharp edges, and made of a very hard wood. Shortly after the arrival of the Missionaries in Tongatabu, an event occurred of a public nature, which made them early acquainted with many 144 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF of the most remarkable customs of the na- tives. This event was the illness and death of the old king of the island, who was a good man, and had long been held in great esteem by his subjects. These people having a fleet of war canoes, while the old king, Moomooe, was at the point of death, the chief, who acted as admiral of the fleet, set sail in a large double canoe, on a voyage which could not take up less time than two months, to fetch what he called a spirit, but which was merely an idol, that it might cure the illness of the king. The Missionaries having agreed to depute two of their number to pay him a visit in his illness, they found him surrounded by several of his wives, and learned, with horror, that the eldest of these women was, agreeably to the custom of the country, devoted to be strangled at his death. In addition to this painful insight into the customs of these islanders, the Missionaries learned some dreadful details regarding the violent death of the son of this old king. It being also a custom here, for the relatives of the sick to have their little fingers cut off, in order to appease the supposed anger of the god, that the sick may re- cover, a son of old Moomooe was sent for from TO THE SOUTH SEA. 145 a distance, in order to comply with this custom. The youth, however, knowing that it was a notion among them, that bykiUing a victim from the family of the sick, the strength of the former would, upon his immolation, be transferred to the latter, approached the house of his father with great reluctance. Perceiving the fatal in- tentions of his father's attendants, as soon as he came into his presence, he tried to get away, and struggled hard for his lifej but finding himself overpowered, he said that if they would use him gently, he would submit to their and his father's will. Continuing their violence, however, and evidently meaning to strangle him, he was enabled, by great strength and exertion, to beat them off, until the murderers, having obtained more assistance, including that of the youth's own sister, at length barbarously effected their purpose. This idolatrous superstition was at that time so strong among this savage people, as utterly to extinguish every feeling of huma- nity which was in opposition to it, although the inhabitants of the island are by no means, in general, destitute of such emotions. Tooga- howe, the chief, of whom carlv mention was 146 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF made, was t])e elder brother of this unfortunate young man, and it was said, that in order to effect the recovery of their father, he had been the chief cause of the youth's death. And yet the Mis- sionaries, on their visit to the house, found the chief sitting without, mourning over the grave of him, of whose death, for a superstitious pur- pose, he himself had been the principal occa- sion. The ceremonies observed by the natives at the funeral of the king, who soon after died as was expected, were truly savage, and, in some respects, horrible. Two of the wives of the deceased were now devoted to be strangled at his tomb. Walking together in the mournful, or rather frightful procession, which followed the body; one of these devoted women wept bitterly at the idea of her fate, while the other evinced but little concern. The relatives of the late king cutting themseWes with the shark's tooth, as they went, until the blood streamed down their faces, presented to the Missionaries a hideous appearance. At the actual interment of the body, which did not take place, for several days after this, the scene TO THE SOUTH SEA. 14/ that presented itself round the grave was still more dreadful. Meantime the numbers that crowded from all quarters into the valley where the body was to be buried, were prodigious, and filled the Missionaries with considerable alarm j as they were informed that this vast body might make a stay in the place for two or three months, if the enormous quantity of provisions that was also pouring in, should last so long, and that during this time all sorts of excesses were likely to take place. The fiatooka, or burying place of the king, was situated in a rich valley, and consisted of a cleared area of about four acres. In the centre of this rose a mound with a gentle slope, and on the top of the mound, under an open shed, was the tomb, entirely built of coral stone. On the day of the funeral, above four thousand persons sat around this area. A great shouting and blowingof conch, or trumpet shells, was the first part of the ceremony. After this, about a hundred men rushed hastily into the area from without, and being armed with clubs and spears, began to cut and mangle themselves in a shocking manner, numbers of them striking their own heads with their clubs, until the blood streamed down, the J4S VOYAGE OF THE SUIT DUFF blows being heard among all the confusion at a distance of thirty or forty yards. Some who had spears, thrust them through their thighs, arms, and cheeks, all the time calling on the deceased by name in the most affecting tones of grief. One man, who had been a servant of the deceased, appeared on this occasion to be quite frantic. Having first oiled his hair, he en- tered the area carrying fire in his hand, which he soon applied to his head, and ran about with the hair all in flames. Some knocked out their teeth with stones 3 the shell blowers cut their heads with their shells -, and the Missionaries saw with horror a man running round the area with a spear sticking through the flesh of his arm. Unable any longer to bear this frightful scene, the Missionaries left it, and on returning about two hours after, they found the area still filled with people who continued successively to cut and mangle themselves. Shortly after, on again coming close to this barbarous exhibition, they heard at a distance a murmur of female voices, giving out low and mournful sounds, expressive of tiie deepest sorrow and lamentation. Presently, the now empty area began to be filled TO THE SOUTH SEA. 149 by a procession of nearly a hundred and titty women, who moved slowly, and in Indian tile, each carrying a basket of coral sand. Then fol- lowed about eiy;hty men in the same manner, wlio sang as they marched carrying their sand, a strain, the words of which imported, *' This is a blessing to the dead," the women answering with corresponding responses, to which were added the voices of a third company of women bearing a quantity of cloth. This was the most interesting part of the ceremony. The three bands thus walked towards the tomb, the canopy over which, it is somewhat curious to observe, was covered entirely with black cloth, as was also the body, now brought forward on a bier. When the corpse of the king was deposited in the tomb, seven men blew a blast upon their conch-shells, and then a strain was raised by the singers, deeply expressive of heartfelt grief. Another party of men now entered the area, who went on cut- ting and slashing themselves as before, and were followed by sixteen of the mourners of the king's family, each of whom had cut their little fingers off. Successive scenes of singing and sorrow followed this, after which the multitude sat awhile o 2 150 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF in deep silence ; then rising up, and giving a great shout, and tearing off the wreaths of leaves with which they had been decorated for mourning, they quietly dispersed to hold their feasting in other parts. These great gatherings, which brought to this spot many even of the inhabitants of the neigh- bouring islands, were considered, by the new set- tlers, as upon the whole, exceedingly favourable to the purposes of the Mission 5 for the opportunity was thus afforded of addressing strangers from dis- tant quarters, and testifying against these cruel enormities, a proceeding which was not altogether without its effect. Pressing invitations to settle in several of the neighbouring islands were given to the Missionaries by the approving natives, which nothing but want of acquaintance with their language prevented them from accepting. Among their other labours, one of their number, a Mr. Bowell, whom they had made their secre- tary, was assiduously employed in forming a vo- cabulary of the language of Tongatabu, in which he was much assisted by the ingenuity and zeal of the native chiefs themselves. With respect to the progress of the colonists, in their agricul- TO THE SOUTH SEA. 151 tural labours, their peas and beans rose well, and in two months were in fine bloom ; but the crop of these, and some other vegetables, never came to maturity, being totally destroyed by the rats and mice with which the island appeared to swarm. Turnips they found to succeed well, and these they continued to sow with confidence. The waste of provisions by the natives during their several mais, or feastings, which followed after the death of the king, caused a natural ap- prehension among the Missionaries of a season of great scarcity. The abundance of fish, however, which were easily obtained on the shores of the island, was a perpetual safeguard from the cala- mity of famine. Early one morning, while it was yet dark, the Missionaries were greatly alarmed by a shock of an earthquake, during which the earth trembled beneath them so long and so sensibly, that it put them all in the greatest consternation. The poor natives near them were also quite panic struck, increasing the general terror by setting up loud cries, while the surf on the beech rose with fury, and made a noise that seemed dreadful. The natives imputed this effect to the Atua, or spirit. 152 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP UUIE who frequently alarms them by such visitations ; but they quickly forget them when the shock is over, although it is sometimes so violent as to shake to prostration the trees and the houses on the island. The greatest annoyance, however, that the Missionaries experienced, was in the deceitful and quarrelsome conduct of Ambler and the two Irishmen whom they had found on the island. The dangerous representations which these un- principled men were constantly making to the chiefs against them, — caHing them mean and contemptible persons, and endeavouring to show how easy it would be to rob or expel them, — were much aggravated by some circumstances that took place after they had been several months on the island. These were the accidental occur- rences of the deaths of several of the j)rincipal chiefs, besides the king of the island, which hap- pened to take place within a short time of each other, and all since the arrival of the Mission- aries. The poor natives observing this, did not hesitate to impute these losses to the Mission- aries and their God, and to say, that if they con- tinued to pray and sing on their island, in a short TO THE SOUTH SEA. 153 time they would not have a single chief left alive. This prejudice. Ambler and the artful Irishmen did not fail to aggravate^ to the disadvantage of the defenceless settlers ; yet, with all this, several of the chiefs remained much their friends, and they looked with confidence to the God who had sent them to these islands of the sea, for deliver- ance from any threatened danger. Their journal says piously and beautifully on this, in the words of the king of Israel, "O that people would praise God for his goodness, and for his wonder- ful works towards the children of men 1" Notwithstanding the savage practices to which we have alluded, the Missionaries found these islanders to possess, upon the whole, all the ex- cellent and even amiable qualities for which the various navigators by whom they had been visited had given them credit. If they are in general dishonest to strangers, their honesty among themselves is unimpeachable. Like the inhabitants of Tahiti, they exercise a hospitality and a generosity to the strangers from whom, at the same time, they might occasionally pilfer, which is bounded only by the means within their power, and which to the selfish European is quite 154 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUfF astonishing J and among themselves, were they dying of hunger, the first morsel any of them might receive, would be instantly and cheerfully divided with the one nearest him, who might not have been so fortunate as himself. Infanticide, the reproach of the generally ami- able Tahitians, is a practice unknown on this island, for here they rear their children with pa- rental kindness and indulgence, and old age is treated with reverence and with honour. Among the lower orders of these islanders, female mo- desty is not much regarded, but among the fami- lies of the chiefs any thing of a contrary nature is severely punished. Though each chief may marry as many wives as he pleases, domestic disagree- ment is entirely unknown ; and if the wife gives any material offence to her lord, he can turn her away from his house whenever he pleases. These ignorant islanders, particularly the chiefs, though idolaters, — each family and district having a deity of its own, whom, without any images, they beheve in and dread, — yet have a belief in the immortality of the soul, which they afiirm is conveyed at death in a fast sailing canoe, away to a distant and unknown country, but where are TO THE SOUTH SEA. 155 to be enjoyed everlasting pleasures, of a kind like those said to exist in the paradise of Maho- met. They have the god of the sky, and the god of the rain, and other deities resembling those of the ancient Greeks ; their island they believe to rest on the shoulders of a very powerful deity called Mouree, who has borne it for them, from time immemorial, and who sometimes gets so impatient of its weight, as to make him heave it up and down in their frequent earthquakes, which always, however, makes them scream out in the greatest alarm. In all the island, the Missionaries saw no person professing to be a priest, but when any sacrifice is offered to their gods, each man kills and presents it himself. The soil of the island the Missionaries found to be very rich and prolific, so that if the inha- bitants were trained to industry, it might be made to yield great abundance. The people, though dis- posed to be more industrious than those of many other islands in the South Sea, yet spent most of their time sporting upon the waters and diving under the surf; or in telling stories of their own in- vention as they lay under the shade of their pic- turesque trees. The curiosity which they shewed. 156 VOYAGE OF THE SHIP DUFF however, in watching all the proceedings of the Missionaries, gave hopes that the arts of civilisa- tion might soon be taught them ; and the strong desire they expressed for articles of English manu- facture, such as ironmongery, woollen cloths, and especially blankets, makes it probable that if any pains were taken to teach them, they would not be long in learning to manufacture for themselves. The mission in this part of the world being now pretty well established, the captain of the DufF prepared to take a final leave of the island of Tongatabu, and to make sail for Europe, where he knew the friends of the undertaking were most anxiously waiting for his return. On the 7th of September, therefore, having taken an affectionate farewell of all the Missionaries, and commended them to that Providence, who was able to take care of them even among the islands of the South Sea, Captain Wilson weighed anchor, and was soon out in the ocean again, intending to sail first to China on his way back to England. Captain Wilson and his men had not been long at sea, however, when, falling in with another group of islands unknown to them, their ship got entangled among reefs and breakers ; and TO THE SOUTH SEA. 157 notwithstanding all their care and watching, the night overtaking them where they had no sea room, and where their charts availed them nothing, the vessel at length struck upon a coral rock, over which the sea was scarcely seen to break, to give those on board the least warning of their danger. All hands rushed on deck, upon hearing the ship strike, and as she lay fast and beating upon the rock, the horrors of ship- wreck in these unknown seas, began to stare the poor mariners in the face. The darkness now seemed to ofiFer only the alternative of being drowned, should they not be able to save the ship, or of falling in, perhaps, with cannibal savages, whom their imaginations painted in all their fierceness and cruelty. This, how- ever, was no time for indulging fear, but for energetic action. Setting the sails quickly aback, therefore, the sea being fortunately tolerably smooth, they were not long in getting her off; and when the seamen found their ship again afloat, they could scarcely believe in their sudden deliverance from such imminent danger. We follow not farther the various occurrences of the Duff's voyage home to England. When 158 VOYAGE OP THE SHIP DUFF the Captain and bis peopfe got into China, and among other English ships, the oaths and curses uttered by the sailors there, was a language so different from what he had been so long in the habit of hearing among his own well-disposed men, or the pious Missionaries whom he had left behind, that it struck upon his ear as harsh and shocking, causing reflections at the time which were far from pleasant. Lying in Macao, where she took in a cargo, the speech and conduct of the seamen of the Duff was found to differ so much from that of the crews of the other vessels, that their neighbours fastened upon the ship the nickname of The Ten Commandments. Sailing from China about the beginning of the year 1798, the Duff had a prosperous voyage homewards, touching at the Cape of Good Hope on the 17th of March ; and on the 23rd of June the voyagers again had a sight of the coast of Ireland. Putting into Cork harbour, they were obliged to wait there eight days for a convoy, and at last, on the 11th of July, they cast anchor in the river Thames. Thus ended the first and most remarkable Missionary voyage that has yet been made out TO THE SOUTH SEA. 159 of England. The sensation that was created on the return ot the Duif by the exceedingly favour- able accounts which she brought, and the general promising appearance of the Mission to the South Sea, was very great among all who had taken an interest in the adventure. The Society and its friends were perfectly elated, and all that had been written by the Missionaries in the warmth of their hearts, was exaggerated through a thousand mouths at home ; and the promised success of the gospel in the South Sea islands, furnished matter for many an eloquent harangue. The subsequent history of this and other Mis- sionary adventures to the same quarter however, brought round events which sufficiently sobered the minds of all concerned. Great success cer- tainly did eventually crown the successive eflforts of the Society, who laboured so perseveringly in this interesting work. But as no other regular Missionary researches were made in this direction for a number of years, we shall now require the attention of our kind reader, to be transferred to other and not less important labours and adven- tures, which were, even before this period, under- taken in a different quarter of the globe. 160 DK. VANDERKEMP'S TRAVELS DR. VANDERKEMP S TRAVELS, &c. IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. CHAPTER I. Sketch of the Life of Dr. Vanderkemp, previous to his becoming a Missionary — He studies at Leyden — Enters the Army— Goes to Edinburgh— Returns to Holland — His Wife and Daughter drowned at Dort— Goes to London, and Engages as a Mission- ary — Sails to the Cape — Travels into the Interior of Africa. In no other part of the world, perhaps, have Mis- sionary travellers done more for the advance- ment of geographical science, and other branches of valuable knowledge, than on the southern divi- sion of the African continent. The liberality of the British public, under the spirited management IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 161 of the London Missionary Society, have afforded the means of prosecuting these labours, which have been cheerfully undertaken by a few indivi- duals, and the accounts the travellers give of the countries they have explored, as well as of what they have done for rehgion and civilisation, are not perhaps unworthy general attention. It is somewhat remarkable, that the father of the English missions to that part of the globe, and one of the most singular men that ever un- dertook this species of exertion, was the native of a country whose inhabitants are generally remark- able for their phlegmatic and mercenary spirit j characteristics the most opposite to those required in any man who willingly devotes himself to the arduous task of civilising and christianising a savage people. Yet such is the power of the sentiment of rehgion, that not only Dr. Vander- kemp — of whom we have now, with his coadjutor, Mr. Kircherer, from the same country, more par- ticularly to speak — arose out of a people so characterised ; but the Dutch had distinguished themselves long before the Enghsh, by their zeal in planting missionary colonies in various parts of the world. Vanderkemp, though a Dutch- p 2 162 DR. VANDERKEMP'S TRAVELS man, having been sent out by the London Mis- sionary Society, and being the proper founder of these colonies, which have since excited such in- terest, comes fairly under the scope of our plan j and as he was one of the few men that have been engaged in such labours, who united the character of a man of science and a gentleman, to that of a missionary, a short sketch of his life, previous to his embarking in the undertaking by which he has become so extensively known, may be here thought interesting. The father of Johannes Theodorus Van Der Kemp, was minister of a church in Rotterdam! in which city the African Missionary was born, in 1748. The latter had a brother, who became professor of Divinity in the University of Leyden,. before which period, however, young Johannes commenced his studies there, and from his great acquirements in the learned languages, and in general science, is said to have impressed his friends with an expectation that he would become a distinguished man. Entering into the army, however, after he left the University, he rose to the rank of captain of horse, and while serving in this capacity, in which he spent about sixteen IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 163 years, he fell into such immoralities of conduct, and imbibed opinions so perfectly atheistical, that the disappointment thus given to his pious father, is said to have accelerated the old man's death. Having married, at length, and quitted the army, Vanderkemp determined on commencing the practice of medicine ; and in order to qualify himself for this profession, he left Holland for Edinburgh, where, entering into the University of that city, he pursued his studies with great assi- duity. After two years' stay in the Scotch metro- polis, during which he wrote, in Latin, a work on Cosmology, which was published in London, under the title of Parmenides, he obtained his degree of Doctor of Medicine -, after which, re- turning to his native country, he set himself down in Middleburgh, and there soon obtained great reputation as a physician. Whether it was in Middleburgh that the Doctor acquired a fortune by his practice, we are not in- formed, but he afterwards removed to Dort, to enjoy literary leisure and retirement. He seems now, though a Deist in his sentiments, to have lived an exceedingly moral life, and so much principle did he evince while a physician, that he 164 DR. VANDKRKEMP's TRAVELS never would allow on bis list of patients more than twelve individuals at any one time, in order that he might be able fully to study each case, and to devote himself properly to the respective recovery of each. Living at Dort with his wife and daughter in much happiness, it was here that a calamity befel him, which seems to have been the first instrument of an entire change in his sen- timents 3 and was probably the great cause of his soeking to abandon the world, and to live the rest of his days among the savages of Africa. In the midst of summer, in the year 1791, the Doctor, with his wife and daughter, was taking his pleasure on the river, which runs past the town of Dort towards the sea. Suddenly one of those squalls arose, which, happening in the fine weather of June, bring with them a degree of danger exceedingly formidable, because unex- pected. In a very few minutes the storm became dreadful, and the feelings of the ladies, and of the anxious Doctor, may be better conceived than described, upon beholding a water-spout sailing, black and threatening, above their heads j presently it burst exactly over them, and its floods descending on their small boat. IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 1 05 overwhelmed them all in a moment. The ves- sel was at once upset, and the unhappy Van- derkemp never saw his beloved wife or daughter more. They were drowned by his side, as he struggled with the waves j but by one of those accidents which sometimes favour a drowning man, he was able, for a time, to hold by the edge of the boat, while the spectators on the shore dared not venture to attempt his deliver- ance. The violence of the storm had, by this time, driven one of the vessels in the port from its moorings, which providentially drifted towards the Doctor, who still hung by the boat j he was on the point of perishing, when the sailors on board, perceived him adhering to the wreck, and succeeded in saving his life. Thus w^as Van- derkemp almost miraculously rescued from death, and reserved for undertakings that were afterwards to draw the attention of the world towards him. The state of the Doctor's mind, thus bereaved of his family, and of all that gave value to his worldly prosperity, cannot easily be conceived. In circumstances of calamity the desponding mind feels a consolation in contemplating the things of a future world, which it cannot obtain from any 166 DR. VANDERKEMP's TRAVELS thing in this. The first Sunday after the loss of his beloved wife and daughter, found Vander- kemp in a church; for the first time, as we are informed, for many years. It happened to be the day when the sacrament was ad- minstered. How could an infidel sit down at the table of the Lord ? Yet the awakened Doctor was unable or ashamed to withdraw. His agi- tation at this moment is described to have been extreme. But his dearest earthly comforts were gone — the gospel spoke words of consolation 3 and the wine in the cup typified something which at this moment of sorrow spoke to his heart. He sat down, and recovering his calm- ness as he gave way to his reflections, his future life and sentiments were moulded anew from this instant. There is something very fine in the manner in which he describes this remarkable change, in a letter to a friend. " He did not reason with me about truth and error," he says, speaking of Him who had revealed himself to him, " but attacked me like a warrior, and felled me to the ground by the power of his arm !" The Doctor soon after found an opportunity for the exercise of that yearning benevolence. IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 167 which is the natural result of a sudden soften- ing of the heart. A large hospital having been erected near Rotterdam, for the reception of the sick and wounded during the war between France and Holland, the talents and skill of Vander- kemp were here, in 1/93, called honourably into action, by his being appointed physician and chief director to this institution. Here his bene- volent exertions for the unfortunate patients, who looked to him as their father and their friend, procured him the highest respect and the deepest gratitude ; until upon the subsequent invasion of the French, the hospital was broken up, and the Doctor retired again to Dort, where he amused himself with the study of oriental literature, and engaged in writing a commentary on Saint Paul's Epistle to the Romans. It was while thus occupied, that one of the printed addresses of the London Missionary So- ciety, which had been formed in 1795, and of which the Doctor had long heard, first fell into his hands. Struck with the prospect thus held out to one in his present state of mind, he pe- rused the sermons preached at the formation of the Society with intense interest; and having 168 DR. VANDERKEMP'S TRAVELS made his own determination, he, in April, 1798, entered at once into correspondence with its Secretary. Soon after this he went to London, where he intimated his wish to labour as a Mis- sionary among the Hottentot tribes in Africa, in preference to any people who might have ever heard of the christian faith 3 and having found a Mr. Kircherer, a young man, also a native of Holland, and who had the same enthusiasm with himself, the result of his negotiations was, his being appointed, with his friend, to that mission, on which his heart was entirely set. On the ^3rd of December, 1798, Dr. Vander- kemp and Mr. Kircherer, together with a Mr, Edwards and a Mr. Edmond, set apart also for the mission to South Africa, sailed from Spit- head, in the Hillsborough, a convict ship, in company with the Duff, who was to sail with them to a certain latitude, on her second voyage to the South Sea. Among the wretched convicts on board their ship, the Doctor and his friends found sufficient scope for their indefatigable benevolence. The Missionaries are said to have made con- siderable impression upon these depraved beings, although the latter had at first manifested such a IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 169 disposition to mischief, as to threaten the lives of some of the oflficers of the ship. Going down without apprehension into the noisome den in which their mutinous turbulence had caused them to be confined, the humble Doctor con- versed with them freely, and spoke kindly to each 3 and having succeeded in calming the irri- tation of their wayward spirits, he obtained a mitigation of those severities which by their con- duct they had brought upon themselves. But greater trials of his j)atience and his zeal were soon called for. A disease, probably occasioned by the crowded state of the convicts, broke out among them, and death made dreadful and rapid havoc. The state of the place where numbers of these wretched people lay dying, was truly dreadful. Yet, although mixing among them constantly, and alleviating their sufferings, amid spreading pestilence, darkness, and the groans of the sick, the Missionaries were preserved from any infection. No sooner had a Uttle improve- ment taken place among such of the convicts as remained alive, than another peril overtook the ship. A violent storm racked her so dreadfully, and after three days the water had gained so much Q 170 DR. VANDERKEMP'S TRAVELS upon them, that all hands were obliged to labour at the pumps. At length the storm somewhat abated, when it was discovered that one of the lower port-holes was partly open, which accidental circumstance had greatly increased the leak. This error having been now rectified, smoother weather enabled them to proceed, and after a trying passage of fifteen weeks, they, on the 31st of March, 1799, came to anchor in the Cape of Good Hope. On their arrival in the Cape, the Missionaries were gladly received by the Dutch brethren there ; and Governor Dundas, who had witnessed the good effects of the efforts of the Moravians, at their settlement called Bavian's Kloof, gave them assurance of his favour and protection. A journey into the interior, to pitch upon a station for a settlement, being the first object of the Doctor, he immediately set about the necessary preparations. A covered waggon, drawn by oxen, was the vehicle which La Vaillant had used on his travels into the interior, many years previous; and was still the mode of conveyance adopted by the Dutch settlers, or boors, who were scattered as farmers throughout the colony. Having pro- IN SOUTIIEIIN AFRICA. 171 vided himself with one of these and the necessary oxen, (the Moravian brethren at Bavian's Kloof, having kindly sent a celebrated native elephant- hunter, named Bruntjie, to the Doctor, to act as his guide and interpreter,) he, on the 30th of May, commenced his travels towards Caflfraria. Proceeding eastward at some distance from the coast, the travellers passed through a pleasant and salubrious valley, about three miles broad, with lofty mountains rising on each side, and on an early day halted at the house of a Dutch farmer named Mynheer Van Haze, who received them with the greatest hospitality. Here they found the good Dutchman living in the midst of abundance, his farm being well stocked with sheep and cattle, and having a flourishing vine- yard at the rear of his house. But he seems to have been an eccentric man, for though keeping a better table than many gentlemen in England, his humour was to go without shoes ; yet his habits were hospitable and patriarchal, and he resembled some of the highland farmers in Scotland. At this comfortable farm the Doctor and his companions were well entertained j and here they found, besides orange and other trees 172 DR. VANDERKEMP'S TRAVELS loaded with fruit, a field of as fine wheat as any that is produced in England. The other farms they came to were all in this flourishing state, and proceeding through the valley, where they had to cross a small stream, called the Hecks river, about ten times, and where they were also well entertained on their way by the Dutchmen, they thought the country an earthly paradise. Having proceeded through the valley, and ob- tained more oxen from the farmers, they prepared to cross the Hecks river mountains, which led them afterwards into the barren district called the Carrow, where they journied for eight days with- out meeting with a house. Proceeding on by a perilous road, which ran between ridges of per- pendicular mountains, and where they were con- tinually in danger of falling over the rocks, they sent their waggons, dogs, and people on before ; and having been furnished with some spare horses, the Doctor and his companions rode in the rear. This pass is called the Straat, and abounds with badgers, wolves, tigers, baboons, spring-bocks, and ostriches ; besides the lions that now began to hover round the track of the Missionaries. At night they pitched a tent IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 173 and slept under it, and the darkness having brought the wolves very near, the dogs were obliged to be kept constantly on the alert, to prevent these ravenous animals from attacking the cattle. Coming to a place called Riets Fountain, they found two different seasons on the different sides of the mountainous ridge, and pitched their tent at night amidst a thick shower of snow, it being then the month of June, and the very middle of winter in this part of the world. One night their sheep were attacked by the jackalls, who at- tempted to worry them, and though the dogs succeeded in driving off the wild beasts, these faithful and zealous animals were so bitten, that the Missionaries were obliged to cause them to be killed. Crossing the dry bed of a wide river, they came to the house of a Mr. De Beer, who had been visited also by La Vaillant when on his travels, and who having just buried his child, for whose loss he was in great grief, he received the Missionaries, and applied to them for consolation, with the utmost thankfulness. This person's vineyard, the travellers found to pro- duce a Muscadel wine, which they report equal to 174 DR. VANDERKEMP's TRAVELS that of Constantia^ and in the glen behind it, they observed the sugar cane growing spontaneously. As they now drew near to the CafFre country, on learning that a kraal or village of the Caffres was distant only about twelve miles, they deter- mined to go thither, and Mr. De Beer kindly oflFered to accompany them. Their road lay through a narrow pass, called a kloof, between two ridges of mountains, where the loud cries of the baboons had a strange effect in the valley, and the bounding of the spring- bocks— an animal so called from its jumping habits — from one rock to another, afforded them much wonder and amusement. Locusts they found here also, five inches in length, spotted with black, but not eatable. When they had got to the end of the kloof, they came to the kraal of the Caffres, where they were received cordially by the people, who regaled them with milk and boiled pottage. These Caflfres had left their own country, and were going, as they intimated, to the Cape, having with them two Goniquas. They in- formed the Missionaries that their captain had been nmrdered sometime before, by those of another kraal, but they treated his son, a bov IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 175 of about four years old, who wore a brass plate on his breast indicative of his father's dignity, with much distinction, allowing him to eat apart by himself. Here, on the 16th of June, it being- Sunday, Dr. Vanderkemp preached twice in the Dutch language to about fifty people. Having left the kraal, as they proceeded on- wards, the weather became severely cold and frosty after sunset ; and the travellers were much annoyed with the wild beasts 3 whose cries during the night, with the barking of the dogs, disturbed the rest of the fatigued Missionaries, and had a very harassing effect. Herds of the quacha, a wild animal of the horse species, as well as of hares and peacocks, were met by them on their route, and near a small river they found great plenty of wild cucumbers, and bitter apples, which the Hottentots say are possessed of me- dicinal qualities. In one place they passed a rock beautifully adorned with aloes in full blossom. As they continued to journey on, the frost at night was sometimes so severe, as to freeze the water in their calabashes, and one morn- ing they found even the ink in the inkstand converted into a lump of ice. Travelling by 176 DR. VANDERKEMP's TRAVELS day, their way lay through a hollow called the Bereen valley, which they describe as a vast wilderness crossed by many dried up rivers, the beds of which were filled with a brown clay. On the 26th of June, they first got a sight of a lofty mountain, called the Snewbergen, by the foot of which they knew they had to pass, and towards the afternoon, the fresh footsteps of a numerous company of lions, which appeared to be walking on befi/re them, were perceived on the clay. Stopping at night where there was water, they began to fear that the lions might come and dispute the possession of the water pool with them. They, therefore, decamped, and pro- ceeded on in the dark for another hour 3 they then stopped again at a place where they found some grass for their bullocks and sheep, and here they had a quiet night's rest. Rising next morning and again setting forth, they perceived no more footsteps of the lions, which having probably remained that night by the water where they had first stopped, were now consequently behind them. Proceedisg onwards to the foot of the Snewbergen, they stoi)ped at mid-day, and dined among the moun- IN SOUniERN AFRICA. 177 tains j and thence travelling on, they came to a beautiful river, called Brakkefontain, the waters of which, however, were perfectly sweet. On the delightful banks of this stream they stopped and encamped ; but hearing the roaring of the lions at night, and knowing that this place was much infested by tigers and other wild beasts, and also by the wandering natives called Boshemen, not less wild and ferocious, they were obliged to main- tain a very sharp look-out, and to keep the oxen tied to the waggon. Even in this wild inland country, the Mission- aries came to the farm of another Dutchman, who, hearing of their arrival, sent on the morning of the 27th a Hottentot boy to them, to be in- formed what people they were. When Mr. Hen- drick Vandenberg, this Dutch farmer, was made acquainted who they were that travelled in these wilds, he came with two of his friends to see the Missionaries ; and the cattle of the latter being by this time much fatigued and worn out, the Doctor and his friend removed their camp to the Kraal, where the people belonging to the farm lived. Thinking themselves here quite safe from the wild beasts who they knew had followed tlicm, 178 DR. VANDERKEMP'S TRAVELS they arranged themselves with the intention of resting under the protection of the Dutchmen for some days. But on the very first night, the 28th, a lion attacked them while most of them were asleep, and killed three sheep and two goats. The Missionaries were awakened by the firing of the watchmen, and heard the noise of the con- fusion caused by the alarm of the cattle, who roared in terror, and ran backwards and for- wards. The lion, however, got clear oflF in the dark, and the ground being wet, they were able next morning, to trace his footsteps in the direc- tion which he had taken. Having left this place at once, as they were now drawing near to the Dutch settlement or town of Graaf Reynet, they ])roceeded onwards, and meeting on their way with other farmers, and crossing several small rivers, soon arrived at the Settlement. Here they found the Dutch Landdrost Bresler, and other functionaries, to whom they presented the letters with which they nad been furnished by the Governor at the Cape, and were received by them with much civility. Here was also a Dutch clergyman, the minister of the Settlement, whom they heard IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 179 preach on the Sunday, to about an hundred and fifty people ; and in this place Dr. Vanderkemp, having been duly appointed as a minister while in London, baptized three children. GraafFReynet is a solitary town standing in the wilderness, and near the frontiers of CafiFraria, and the Boshemen's country. Into the former territory it was Dr. Vanderkemp's intention to travel and settle himself as a Missionary. The Laandrost and Minister of GraafFReynet, strongly urged the Doctor not to venture himself among such a people as the CafFres, beyond the Great Fish River 3 for the minds of these savages, they averred, were so exasperated against the English and Dutch, that the lives of the travellers would in all probability fall a sacrifice to such temerity. The Doctor, however, was determined on the work, without fearing the consequences 3 and re- plied, that having obtained leave of the Gover- nor at the Cape, he would proceed forward, only first sending to Gika, the king of the Caflfres, to endeavour to obtain his permission also, so soon as he could spare his interpreter Bruntjie for that purpose. At Graaf Reynet, while they stayed, at the 180 DR. VANDEUKEMP'S TRAVELS beginning of July, they found the cold intense j the surrounding mountains being covered with snow. Here the Doctor ascertained the latitude of the place to be 32° 33' south, and the variation of the needle 27° 40' west. Having been treated with every kindness by the magistrate Bresler, Mr. Ballot the minister, and others of the place j and furnished by another Dutchman with a team of oxen for their journey, and a Hottentot to attend them, Messrs. Vanderkemp and Read, together with their attendants, now prepared to set out on their tedious and perilous travels. The attentive Laandrost also gave them such letters as he thought would be useful ; and not forgetting a present to his Majesty, Gika, King of CafFraria, took his leave of the courageous travel- lers, and suffered them to resume their journey on the 10th of July, (1799). IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 181 CHAPTER II. Vanderkemp departs from Graaf Reynet — Alarming information from a Hottentot — Offers of friendship by Caffres— Return of Messengers sent to the King of Caffraria, with a passport — Various occurrences on their journey, and arrival at the King's residence— Conference with King Gika— Unfavorable prospects for the Mission. Following their waggon on horseback as for- merly, the travellers set out from Graaf Reynet accompanied by Mr. Ballot the minister, the son of the Laandrost, andanumber of the inhabitants of the place, who escorted them on their journey for several days. Several Dutch farmers being still scattered about among these wilds, in the neighbourhood of the town, the Missionaries rested at their houses as often as they could, until they again got among tlie mountains and snowy regions. There was no small amouut R 182 DR. VANDERKEMP'S TRAVELS of Dutch population near Graaf Reynet, consider- ing its interior situation, and Dr. Vanderkemp and his companion had often opportunities of preaching to numbers whom the farmers had gathered to hear them as they passed. While thus engaged at the house of a Mr. Mulder, a lion attacked and killed two horses at the farmer's own door. Coming to the head of the Great Fish River, the travellers one night suffered much from the intense cold. The Dutch settlers and Caffres on their route were still mixed in farms or kraals, and the Moravian Missionaries having before been in that neighbourhood, as well as many religiously disposed Dutchmen, the Doctor often found seasonable opportunities for teaching and exhort- ing the people. They came to several Kraals of Caffres on their journey, and on the 19th were visited by about thirty of those people, to whom they made small presents of knives, tobacco, &c. ; of this latter article these barbarians are remark- ably fond. On the same evening a Hottentot from the Bosheman's river informed them of a resolution entered into by his people with the Caffres, to destroy all the Colonists ; and that IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 183 one body now hovered near to attack the Missionaries, and another waited for them near the snow mountains. Upon this information the Doctor, accompanied by his interpreter, paid a visit to a body of Caf- fres whom he found on the opposite side of a river ; who entering into conversation with him, assured him he had no reason to fear, for that Gika, the king, they beUeved was informed of their intention of visiting him, and was favourable to it ; and these rude people even offered to ac- company the Missionaries to his Majesty. The Doctor now found that it was the wish of the peasants, by alarming rumours, to deter him if pos- sible from proceeding on his journey. He there- fore paid little attention to the report of the Hottentot man, although as they proceeded onwards they often heard of people having been killed and cattle seized by the plundering Caffres and Hottentots. The Missionaries now thought it necessary to dispatch Bruntjie and one or two of the Caffres attached to them, to the king ; in order to obtain the favour of that puissant monarch, or at least to ascertain correctly what was his disposition towards their enterprise. 184 DR. VANDERKEMP'S TRAVELS Proceeding onwards they were accompanied by several Bosheman young women, who, strange to say, having come from different parts of the country spoke different languages, and were unable to understand what each other said. The Missionaries were also accompanied by an Asiatic girl, (how she came there we are not informed,) who was exceedingly useful to them, washing their linen, grinding their coffee, and performing other domestic offices. One night they lost four of their oxen in the mountains, and on another occasion a parly of Caflfres attacked them and took away three more. They now learned that there was a great war raging in Caffraria, which was principally carried on by skirmishing and plundering parties, which news gave them con- siderable uneasiness. A body of friendly Cafifres being near Dr. Vanderkemp, he consulted with them what was best to be done 3 for now some had even taken refuge among the travellers far their own protection, their relatives having been killed in the war. Little was determined on except a partial neutrality ; but the state of things shortly after induced the Missionaries to take every pre- cautionary measure i)ossible, for their own safety. IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 185 On the 30th of July, they observed six fires on the tops of the mountains, at the foot of which they were encamped, which had been lighted by the Mondankians, a tribe of the hostile CafiFres. This indication of savage war, threw the surround- ing colonists into the greatest state of alarm, and they in many places prepared for flight. The Missionaries, however, saw no immediate appear- ance of hostility, nor were they disturbed from that quarter ; but several circumstances followed this, which much increased their anxiety for their own safety. While they were in this state, un- certain whether to return or proceed, to their great joy, Bruntjie, Zila, and another, their ambassadors to King Gika, returned to them with an exceed- ingly encouraging answer. The speech that Zila is said to have made to his Caffrarian Ma- jesty, on being admitted to an audience, is curious. "I know," said he to the king, '' that you are a proud CafFre, and your heart is very hard, but when these men (the Missionaries) shall speak to you, it ought to become as flowing water : you never salute any of your subjects, but when these come, you ought to rise and go out to meet them, and shake hands with them." AVhen Gika r2 180 DR. VANDERKEJtr's TRAVELS heard the speech, he repHed, " I am glad you in- form me of the manners of these men, and what you say, I'll observe," — an answer, kingly and laconic. The black ambassadors then presented the letter of the Missionaries, but their being no interpreter at hand who was so learned as to read it > "the speaking paper," as it would have been called by the natives of the South Sea Islands, could not be made to speak, and therefore was of no imme- diate use. His majesty, however, sent the Mis- sionaries a passport to his own territory by the hands of their diplomatists ; but not being himself a learned person, nor having a secretary who was a good clerk, the passport was no written parch- ment, but his own tobacco-box, which did much better ; as its meaning could be understood by all to whom it might be shown. It is needless to add, that the tobacco-box was received with much joy by the Missionaries, as the result of this important negociation. A large party of the colonists who had at- tached themselves to the Missionary cavalcade for protection, now proceeded in company with them, the whole amounting to not less than fifty waggons. Tliey had not got fur on their IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 187 journey, however, when a strong party of Caffres appeared on the face of a mountain on their left. The Missionaries and colonists had hardly time to prepare for their defence, and the latter had scarcely formed themselves into a line of battle, before the savages, setting up a loud cry, rushed down from the mountain upon them and vigo- rously attacked them in front. Dr. Vanderkemp and his companion not choosing to enter per- sonally into the engagement, served out mus- kets and ammunition to their own Hottentots, and directed the operations of the whole dispos- able force, in which even the women and children who followed them, took an active part. The battle lasted about an hour, during which several of the Caffres were killed, and the whole body ultimately forced to retreat. They hovered around them, however, along the foot of the moun- tain, a great part of the day, and so harassed the colonists in particular, that they were obliged to leave their cattle a prey to their plunder- ing enemies. In this action Dr. Vanderkemp expresses his astonishment at the coolness and courage displayed by the women and children : 188 DR. VANDERKEMP'S TRAVELS some of his own men were, however, cut off, and a few deserted him and went over to the enemy. This large body of Colonists, as we infer from the journal of the Doctor, — which is written in the usual confused and unsatisfactory man- ner of most Missionary records, — was all this time following the ronte of our travellers only for a certain way, as they now moved off with their families for fear of the CafFres : but where they were going to, we do not learn. Having passed over a river called the Kromme, this extensive cavalcade pitched their camp on a plain between that and the fish river, where they rested after the battle 3 and in the evening the Doctor calling- the whole together for worship as usual, preached to them concerning the dehverance of the people of Israel from King Pharoah and his host at the Red Sea, which event he improved to present application. Having passed a quiet night in this plain, they journeyed forth again in the morning, and passed the Great Fish River, which forms part of the boundary of the Colonial territory, from CafFraria to the north ; and crossing also a small river called the Tarka, they slept at the house of IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 189 a settler called Pretorius, a one-eyed man, whose other eye had been plucked out by the claw of a tiger. In this man's house, also, they saw a Bosheman child, whom Pretorius had hu- manely rescued from his father, who, agreeably to the superstition of the country, was at the time about to bury him alive in the grave of his deceased mother. As the travellers and the colonists proceeded onwards, they knew by the smoke of the Caffre fires, which they observed on the heights, that these savage people still followed them. While they continued to journey by the banks of the Tarka, most of the colonists left them ; and on the 6th of August, the wind blowing from the south, a flight of locusts passed over their beads. The fires of the Caffres were still seen occa- sionally at night on the mountains ; and a tiger one night killed and devoured one of their sheep which followed the waggon. Staying for some days at the house of a settler named Vander- waldt, they received letters from the Laandrost of Graaff Reynet, and then proceeded on into Caffraria, although still greatly pressed to return. 190 DR. VANDERKEMP's TRAVELS from considerations of the imminent danger of the undertaking. Stopping again near the Great Fish River, they saw on the 5th of September thousands of aloes in blossom upon the rocks, " their stalks not perpendicular to the horizon, but rather to the surface of the rock." At night they were much disturbed by the noise made by ostriches who had come to this place to lay their eggs, as also by the howling of the wolves close by. The eggs of the ostrich had often been the principal food of the Missionaries, as they travelled in this region. In some places they encountered great difficulties in ascending mountainous passes, and crossing rivers, having occasionally to cut their way with the axe and spade. The country border- ing on Caffreland, they found to be delightful. In some places they saw lions lying in the dry beds of rivers j quachas, or wild horses, were again abundant, and parrots they saw in hun- dreds. They also saw snails, the shells of which were three inches and a half long, and two inches in diameter. There is a bird in these parts called a honey-discoverer, which has a peculiar IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 191 note, which it changes on coming to a nest of bees, and then gives another and a different call. Following the flight of this curious bird, the Doctor came to a nest of bees, where he got a quantity of excellent honey. As the Misionaries travelled on through this wild c:ountry, and drew near to the residence of the Caffre king, they did not for many days meet with a human habitation, and were often in great straits for food. Sitting in their tent on the morn- ing of the 16th, (September), consulting together as to what they should do to procure a breakfast, they unexpectedly found under their feet in the tent, a number of wild onions of a most deli- cious flavour. They discovered on this and the following day great quantities more of this root, and it proved a very acceptable supply. Passing on through rivers, and often obliged to cut their way through the woods, they, on the l/th, again saw cattle on the mountains, which indicated the vicinity of human habitations. The barking of dogs was next heard, and soon after they came upon a kraal of Caffres. These poor people were not at all hostile ; and coming out of their little huts, only gazed at the Mission- 192 DR. VANDERKEMP's TRAVELS aries as they passed, and begged things from them. They had by this time little to give these people, but they spared them a small quantity of tobacco, and kindly allowed some of the most im- portunate to cut several of the buttons off their trousers for ornaments ; but when one strongly coveted the chain which was attached to the bridle of the Doctor's horse, and begged it of him, he thought this was rather too much, and refused. These poor people followed the Missionaries as they with much difficulty passed over a river, and proceeded with them until night, when they pitched their tent. Next day they met with an accident, which threatened to retard them much on their journey although they were very near to where King Gika lived. This was caused by a herd of oxen be- longing to some of the kraals in the neighbour- hood, which, as it appeared, astonished by the sight of their oxen fastened to the waggon, came galloping up across their way. This proceeding caused the travelling oxen to flounder backwards 3 and in their alarm they broke the shaft of the vehicle, and tore the body of it to pieces. Arrested now in their progress by this accident, some of IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 193 them endeavoured to repair thewag-gon, whilst a messenger was sent forward to the king, to inform him of their distressed situation. Before, how- ever, their messenger had time to arrive at his destination, the Doctor suceeeded in getting the wjiggon })ut into some repair. When again en- abled to proceed, they went on their journey, and the crossing of small rivers, being generally the most difficult of their labours, their usual mode of effecting this, was by cutting down trees and branches in the neighbourhood of these streams, and partly fiUing up their beds, so as to enable the waggons to be drawn over, — a process both de- laying and toilsome. Cutting their way occasion- ally through the wood also, they at length, on the 20th, came to the cattle kraals of King Gika, and soon after to his own residence. His Majesty lived near a river, called in the Caffre tongue, Tchemi, and here the Missionaries were soon surrounded by about a hundred of his subjects. They inquired for King Gika, but at first received no answer. The Doctor's account of their interview is amusing, and we give it in the words of his journal. " After waiting for about ten minutes in suspense," says he, " the 194 DR. VANDERKEMP'S TRAVELS king approached in a majestic and solemn attitude, advancing slowly, attended on each side by one of his chief men. He was covered with a long robe of panthers' skins, and wore a diadem of copper, and another of beads round his head. He had in his hands an iron kive (club), and his cheeks and lips were painted red. He stopped about twenty paces from us, and one of his captains then sig- nified that this was the king. We then stepped towards him, and he at the same time marched forward. He reached his right hand, but spoke not a word. I then delivered him his tobacco-box, which we had filled with buttons. He accepted it, and gave it to one of his attendants. At a distance behind him stood his captains and wo- men, in the form of a half-moon ; and at a great distance the rest of the people. During all this time he moved not an eye-lid, nor changed the least feature in his countenance. I then asked loudly, if there were no one who could speak Dutch, and serve as an interpreter -, but nobody spoke, only some smiled. Having staid thus about a quarter of an hour, a white man arrived, dressed in the European fashion, which we took to be Koenraad Buys." This was a fugitive IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 195 Dutchman, and an exile, of whom the doctor had before heard. " The king then advanced, and sat down upon an ant's hill. Buys placed himself at his left hand, and his captains sat down round him on the ground. Gika then asked, by means of Buys, if this tobacco-box was intended for him ? I re- plied that it was the king's own tobacco-box, which we returned to him as a token, that we were the very men to whom he had sent it, but that we would not return it empty. He said that he thanked us, and that he was much pleased to see that we put so much confidence in him, and had done well to come to him, desiring to know what our intention was, and what we desired of him. I answered, that our object was to instruct him and his people in matters which would make them happy in this life, and after death 5 and that we only asked his leave to settle ourselves, or rather myself, (as this, my brother, probably would go to another country) in his land, expecting his friendship and protection, and liberty to return to my own country when I should judge it expedient. '' I then," continues the Doctor, " addressed 196 DR. VANDERKEMP'S TRAVELS Mr. Buys," and said, 'I suppose you are Mr. Buys, and understand these things ; the Lord has sent me to preach the Gospel to this people, after I shall have attained their language.' * This I know,' said Mr. Buys ; ' the Gospel must be preached to all nations, but you are come at a very improper time.' Gika continued, ' that we were come at a very unfavourable period ; that all the coun- try was in confusion, though he intended nothing but peace and tranquillity, having no part in the hostilities which subsisted between the English and some of the CafFres.' He advised us, there- fore, not to stay with him. ' Your people,' said he, ' look upon me as a great man, but I am not able to entertain you as you ought to be enter- tained : you look for safety and rest, but I can myself find no safety or resting-place, being in perpetual danger on account of my enemies ; nor can I protect you, as 1 cannot protect myself.' I said, that we were only private men, willing to provide for ourselves ; that we did not sup- pose that he could remove the common calami- ties of war, but that we could bear them with patience ; that we asked for no other protection than he was able to give the meanest of his sub- IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 197 jects, and which Buys himself enjoyed. He re- peated, that he did not advise us to stay in his country, as not calculated for our manner of living. He gave us, however, leave to unyoke our oxen, and to pitch our tent, and asked if we had brought any thing more with us. I then offered him the presents which we had brought for him, his mother, and his uncle, Tzlambi ; and upon his observing that his presents were not so handsome as those of the two others, we added some buttons, knives, &c., for which he thanked us." The king would by no means encourage the Missionaries to settle in his territory, nor would he meddle in their afifairs, or promise them protection or assistance. Every thing here presented to the Doctor, as he himself says, " an unfavourable appearance." Suspicions were soon infused into the mind of the king concerning him, and he was informed against as one of the spies of the English, who had come there to assassinate Gika, and had brought with him enchanted poisoned wine for that purpose. This accusation made a strong impression on the mindofGika,but he determined neither to detain them as prisoners, as he had been advised, nor to J98 DR. VANDERKEMP'S TRAVELS do ought else rashly to their prejudice. He made them a present of a milch cow, &c., and sent messengers to his mother and uncle, who lived at a distance, to consult them as to whether he should suffer them to remain in his country. Buys, the refugee interpreter, became now also doubtful of his own safety, and for two weeks or more, until after the return of the messengers. Dr. Vanderkemp, and his friend Edmond, spent their time in this remote territory, in inactive uncertainty and anxiety. IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 199 CHAPTER HI. Prudent Management of Buys, the refugee Interpreter— Confession and Penitence of the King— Departure of Vanderkemp for the place given to him— Beauty of the Scenery round the intended Settlement, and Proceedings of the Settlers— Arrival of Mr. Meynier— Departui-e of Mr. Edmond— Dangerous Situation of the Doctor— Murder of Bota by the Cafifres, and Removal of Vanderkemp from the Settlement. The situation of Dr. Vanderkemp was now ex- ceedingly unpleasant, although the king of the CafFres displayed more wisdom and moderation than could have been expected from a savage monarch. Inflamed by the suspicions which had been infused into his mind, by one of those who had followed the Doctor during the greater part of his journey, he now even refused to admit the interpreter. Buys, into his presence ; and having about the same time married a third wife, was wholly taken up with the feastings and rejoicings consequent upon his nuptials. Mr. Edmond, the Doctor's companion, began now to give him 200 DIl. VANDERKEMP's TRAVELS much additional uneasiness, by his opposition to the plan of remaining in the Caffre country 3 and by his wish to go Bengal, and to leave the other to pursue his own mode of missionary labour. While they all remained in this state of painful uncertainty, the king was brought to reason, and their own circumstances ameliorated, through the management of Buys, the refugee, in whom the king had still some confidence. Sending for one of Gika's captains. Buys desired him to go and tell the king, that he had observed the change that had of late taken place in his coun- tenance and behaviour, both in regard to the Missionaries and to himself 3 that he saw that he paid him no respect 3 and that in consequence he was resolved to depart from his country in a few days 3 and he knew that Dr. Vanderkemp and the other Missionary, feeling offended as well as him- self, had resolved immediately to follow him. The very contrivance of such a plan, as well as its result, upon which the Dutchman had calculated with so much certainty, shows the character of this savage chief Gika, in a point of view more IN SOUTHERN ATRICA. 201 amiable than that of many civilised and refined monarchs. The Caffre king was so struck with the view of his own conduct, presented by the complaint of Buys, that, accompanied by ten of his cap- tains, he at once went to the tent of the Mis- sionaries, and Buys being also present, he asked the meaning of the preparations for departure, which he had just observed on his way thither. The answer of Buys was earnest, but in a reproachful tone. " You declared to me," he said to the king, " that you would consider me as your father, but your conduct within these last few days denies those feeUngs." He then went on to animadvert on his cold and haughty conduct to the Missionaries, explaining fully the purposes and motives of these harmless men, in visiting his country and seeking his protection whom yet he had kept for several weeks without deigning- them any explicit answer. As for him- self, he said, to repeat what he had notified by the captain, he had now determined to provide for himself, by leaving Gika's kingdom ; and that if he was murdered on the road to the Tambouchis, 202 DR. VANDERKEMP's TRAVELS among whom he meant to seek a retreat, he should leave it as his conviction, that the con- tempt with which Gika had of late treated him was the true cause of his death. The impression that these reproaches made upon the amiable monarch of the CaflFres, appears from the pains he took to answer them, and to do away their effect. His speech, in reply, occupied nearly an hour. He reminded the Missionaries of the manner in which his time had been occupied since his marriage, and ad- verted to the channel through which the sus- picious reports against them had come to his ear. But yet he candidly confessed himself to have been in error, and requested pardon of all for his guilt and his neglect. "I will not excuse myself," he said, *' though I could appeal to the festivals of my marriage to account, in part, for my conduct. I thank God that he has put it into the hearts of these men to come into my country 3" and ended by appointing the Mission- aries a field to dwell in, near a river which he pointed out, with other offers and expressions of anxiety to do them justice 3 the whole proceeding IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 203 bespeaking a benevolent and a candid mind, and a degree of personal humility most unusual in men, either white or black, who are above responsibility, and placed in circumstances of rule over others. This matter being now settled so much to their satisfaction, the Missionaries soon departed for the place intended for them. After some further exchange of civilities with Gika, who visited them on the morning of their departure, (the 6th of October,) even before they had risen, they took their leave j and travelling in the afternoon along the summit of a mountain, the shaft of their waggon broke, which delayed them again, and gave them much trouble. Next day the Doctor obtained ink to write his journal, in rather a cu- rious manner. Pulling up a plant, the stalk of which he had found agreeable, he observed the root to resemble the European carrot. Cutting this root transversely, he found that its sap stained his knife a deep black colour. Suspecting what might be the chemical properties of the juice of this root, he made a decoction from it, into which, throwing some nails, he found it made good ink, and used it as such afterwards. 204 DR. VANDERKEMP'S TRAVELS After getting their waggon repaired with some difficulty, they proceeded on for a day or two, and on the morning of the 10th found that five of their oxen had been carried away during the night, which again totally prevented them from going- forward. While one was sent to seek after the oxen, the Doctor having gone to a neighbouring kraal for assistance, on his return, mistook one stream for another, and entirely losing his way, wandered about, until, unable to proceed farther, he commended himself to God, and lay down on the ground to sleep. The noise of the wolves would, however, allow him no rest 3 and as he had nothing but a CafFre kiri in his hand to defend himself, he was in much jeopardy. Rising and again wandering forth, he heard the barking of dogs, which he took to be his own, beyond the ridge of the mountain ; but on toiling towards the place whence the sounds proceeded, he found himself deceived. After many difficulties en- countered in wandering by himself, he was at last guided back to his encampment by two men, whom he found at the kraal which he had origi- nally left. After various other delays and adventures, they IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. '205 arrived on the ^Oth at the field appointed for their residence. One night on their journey the wolves made such an uncommon noise, that the Doctor, mistaking it for the shrieks of women crying for assistance, which he supposed to proceed from a small kraal near, ran out to interfere , when the shrieks and cries turned into howlings which he could not mistake -, and perceiving that it was only the deceitful noises of the wolf, he returned to his tent. The field of their new inheritance, the Doctor describes as beautiful, covered with long grass, and situated near a river, in the midst of an am- phitheatre of high mountains, among which were planted many kraals of the nativeSo The river swept round the foot of one of the mountains : its water was excellent : and the mountain was covered, for a considerable way up, with a thick w^ood, in which grew various kinds of timber, many of the trees of which were more than a hundred feet high. Meadows of vast extent and beautiful verdure adorned the second region of the mountain, and the extreme top was covered with impenetrable woods. On the plain below, the Doctor and his companion began to divide 206 DR. VANDERKEMP'S TRAVELS the field, and to make preparations for building a house and planting a garden. Here, as he cut down the long grass and rushes for thatching their house, and observed the riches of the soil, and then looked up and surveyed the lofty and picturesque mountains around him, he kneeled down, and in the fervour of his mind, gave thanks to God for thus providing him a resting place in this remote wilderness, and some assurance of protection from all enemies. While the Missionaries were building their house, they began to cultivate the garden they had also formed, with the assistance of four Caf- fres, and soon sowed lettuce and carrots, and planted potatoes, and also currants, black and red, as well as gooseberries and raspberries, peaches, apricots, and other fruit shrubs. A short time after they constructed an oven, and also sowed calabashes, melons, cucumbers, and pump- kins. Here they were sometimes again annoyed by the wolves in the night, one of which, on attack- ing a calf, was vigorously attacked in turn by the older cattle, and driven off. Here the Doctor met with a serpent with four legs, which the Caffres called Tkahu 3 but he does not give us IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 207 any further particulars of the reptile. On the Gth of December they caught a serpent four feet in length, which they boiled and eat, and found it excellent ; but the CafFres and Hottentots held the serpent in abomination as food. About this time the Doctor seems to have be- gun to learn those habits of savage life, by the adoption of which he afterwards made himself so remarkable j or he may have been driven to them by privation, for, returning from a journey, which he took to find a convenient place to con- struct a salt pan, he complains of the pain he had suffered '' having," he says, "my head and feet sorely wounded by thorn bushes andstones,as I had no hat, nor shoes, nor stockngs."* If the poor Doctor was left in this state by any fault of the Society who sent him out, he was ill looked after, considering his devotion to the cause. But this is unlikely J besides, he might have made a covering for his head and feet, out of the materials he found in this fertile country, had he not been indifferent to his personal comfort. On the I5th of December, the Missionaries had * Vanderkemp's Journal.— Miss. Trans. Vol. 1, p. 408. 208 DR. VANDERKEMP'S TRAVELS intelligence of the approach of a Mr. Meynler, a minister of justice of the Cape, who had tra- velled into this country in order to make some ne- gociation with King Gika. That gentleman soon after arrived, but his manner and proceedings appeared to the CafFre king so haughty and arbitrary, that the black monarch threatened to kill him on the spot. Mr. Meynier informed Dr. Vanderkemp that Governor Dundas had come to Graaf Reynet, and he also brought letters from him, in which the Governor requested the Doctor to leave Caffreland on account of the dangers by which he was beset, and to return to Graff Reynet 5 and further informed him, that a tribe called the Caffres of Konga, who lived near the Great Fish River, as well as others who lived beyond the snowy mountains, had manifested a strong wish for his teaching ; and that if he would go thither and labour in either place, where he would be more safe, the Governor would have a church built for him, and would otherwise assist him. The Doctor, however, was firm in remain- ing where he was, although Mr. Edmond now l)rcparcd to leave him by himself, the latter having taken a strong distaste to the Caffre people, and IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 209 being anxious rather to labour among the Ben- galese. It is a little remarkable, that during their journey, and whilst living among these savage nations, the Doctor and Mr. Edmond had lost correct reckoning of the days of the week, and held their Sabbath on the wrong day, that is, on Saturday ; but this mistake was rectified on the arrival of Mr. Meynier. The Doctor relates also, that a supply of common metal buttons, not worth in England perhaps sixpence a dozen, would hav^e been more valuable to him than the few rix dollars he had left. He could have rea- dily purchased from the CafFres a good milch cow for thirty buttons, or a large ox for fifty. When Mr. Meynier had departed, the king explained to Buys, the reason of his conduct to the former. He was still impressed with suspi- cions of the English and the Missionaries, against whom his own people constantly made insinua- tions, and afterwards seemed almost to have re- solved to have had Dr. Vanderkemp assassi- nated. But Buys had evidently great influence over him, and the black king seems to have been a man possessed of an aaiiable mind and an t2 210 DR. VANDEllKEMr's TRAVELS extraordinary sense of justice, for a savage chief j but ignorance made him suspicious, whilst his humane disposition made him weak and wavering. Mr. Edmond having departed, the Doctor con- tinued to labour by himself 3 teaching, reading and writing in the Dutch and Caffre languages, and having about a dozen pupils from among the na- tives. Buys, the refugee, and Thomas, a deserter from one of the colonial garrisons, were of much use to him in building his house, &c. But his pro- gress among the people was in general exceed- ingly slow, and their attendance upon his instruc- tions most uncertain ; and although he flattered himself occasionally that what he taught had made some impression upon several of those who could understand him, little foundation ap- pears in reality for those good feelings, that he indulged towards them. Besides, he was constantly in dread of his life, from the un- certain dispositions and treacherous minds of the CafFres ; for they murdered a colonist, named John Bota, who was travelling that way, almost before his eyes. The account of this atrocity, as far as we have it, is very affecting. Bota, it IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 211 appears, had been living for a time in Gika's ter- ritory, and having asked leave to return to the colony with his family, he obtained it from the king with some reluctance. Bota departed in his waggon with his wife and a child, and had not gone far, when some suspicion having entered the mind of Tzlambi, the uncle of the king, some Caffres were sent after him, and he was ordered to return. This order he was obliged to obey, and when they all came back to the neighbour- hood of Gika's former residence, the poor man was ordered to stop and unyoke his oxen. When he had done so, a Caffre treacherously desired him to lend him his knife 5 with this also he complied, not suspecting any thing, and thus left himself without any means of defence. Upon this, some other Caffres started up from behind the bushes, and threw their weapons called assa- gais at him, one of which pierced his side. His wife now catching him in her arms, drew out the weapon with her own hand. A second being now struck into his body, he pulled it out himself, and his wife continued to defend him, and to pull out the weapons as they struck him, until at last he sank down and expired in her arms. The wag- 212 DR. VANDERKEMP's TRAVELS gon was now plundered and burnt, and the cattle carried away. What became of the poor man's widow and child, thus bereaved and left among savages, the Doctor has neglected to inform us. Among such a people, it was not likely much could be done, either for their civilisation or re- ligion, by a sohtary Missionary ; and the Doctor's determination to prefer this portion of the world for the scene of his labours, and his persisting in it at such a time, and under such circum- stances, appears like obstinacy, or at least eccen- tricity j if, indeed, after a careful perusal of his journal, we can consider him entirely of sound mind, since the calamitous loss of his wife and daughter. He was soon, however, forced to move from this station, notwithstanding all the local labour he had bestowed upon it 3 but be- fore we follow him, we shall give a digest of his report of the manners, customs and notions of the CafFre people, with whom he had more intercourse than any traveller of his time ; and better opportunities, perhaps, of knowing them well, than any one since, who has undertaken to write an account of them. N SOUTHERN AFRICA. 213 CHAPTER IV. Atheism of the Caffre People— Their Sorcery— Government- Manner of Building' — Mode of Living — Agricultural Produce of Caflfraria — Dress of the Natives — Inhumanity to the Aged and Dying— Cleanliness— Generous Feelings — Population of the Coimtry. Ir bas often been asserted, that no people have been found on the face of the earth, entirely with- out some belief in a God, who made the things they see around them. This has been in several instances proved not to be consistent with fact, and the case of the CafFre nation, according to the report of Dr. Vanderkemp, furnishes one of those proofs. Speaking of the people in ge- neral, he says, " I could nev^er perceive that they had any religion, or any idea of the existence of a God." A few individuals, he founds indeed, who had picked up some notions of a Supreme 214 DR. VANDERKEMP's TRAVELS Being, by their intercourse with surrounding na- tions. *' A decisive proof of what I here say," he adds, " with respect to the national atheism of the Caffres, is, that they have no word in their language to express the deity." And yet witchcraft, he tells us, is very comnaon anriongst these people, and although the practice of it is, with extraordinary good sense, prohibited by the King, and held in some infamy ; magi- cians and pretenders of that sort, are sometimes called in by himself, for the discovery of secrets or the indication of guilt. On this head the Doctor justly combats the opinion of Vaillant, who formerly penetrated far into this country, and who asserts that there can be no superstition where there is no religion. This, however, is the hasty opinion of a speculator and a mere tra- veller, who can have no such opportunity of real acquaintance with a people, as the Missionary who lives and labours for years among them. The Doctor found the Caffres to be atheists in belief, yet extremely superstitious ; but the simple idea of religion seems not to have been very clearly defined, by either the Frenchman or the Dutchman. IN SOUTH F.RN AFRICA. 215 The Doctor seems to indicate, however, that the Caffres believe in the devil, without expressing what they mean by the notion ; for he says, that their medical operations are somewhat magical, and proceed upon the supposition of the person who is sick being possessed by the devil, which it is the leech's business to drive out of his pa- tient. When, by sundry divinations, the practi- tioner pretends to have effected this, he runs out, and pursuing the devil over hill and valley, returns soon after, saying that he has killed him, and shows the credulous people the blood of the slain devil upon his weapon, in proof of his assertion. The Doctor has known this people to pay honour to an old anchor, which had been thrown on their coast, from imagining that it had the power to injure them, because a man who had cut a piece off it, had died soon after. He also observed, that they believed in apparitions ; and in some places they were in the habit of throwing a stone or a handful of grass upon a particular heap, but could give no reason for this custom : all which shows, says the Doctor, judiciously, '' that credulity and unbelief go hand in hand, as well in Caffraria as in Europe." 216 DR. VANDERKEMP'S TRAVELS The government of this people is monarchical, as we have already seen, and no special limit is put to the king's power. Yet as, in the exercise of his arbitrary will, he derives all his strength from the goodwill and affection of his people, there are many checks upon his abusing his power j particularly as his counsellors and cap- tains have the liberty of admonishing him as to his conduct, which they are accustomed to do with great freedom and fidelity. The succession to the supremacy, cannot be claimed by any one son of the king, he having the power to appoint his successor 5 and thus anyone of his children, who happens to be the favourite, becomes ruler after him. The captains are the governors of kraals, or villages. Their dignity is hereditary, and they differ in power according to the population of the kraal under their rule. Every one of those cap- tains is a voluntary soldier under the king. As to these kraals, they are merely irregularly formed congregations of huts, usually surrounded with a fence j and in the centre is a space for the cattle, called the beast kraal, which is also surrounded by a strong fence of wood. Near the kraal is a IN SOUTIIF.RN AFRICA. ^217 garden, common to all its inhabitants, but many families have their private gardens ; all are well fenced round, and the fence is taken up and re- newed every year. The houses, or huts, are hemespheroidal in shape, and are, on the ground, from eighteen to about twenty-five feet in diameter. They are generally built by the women, and the sides and dome are composed of sticks stuck in the earth in a circle, and bent over in arches at the top, leaving a place for the door, which is usually screened by a kind of portal. This bower-shaped wattle-work, of which the hut is composed, is supported by several strong poles, thatched with straw, and lined or plastered with clay, mixed with cow-dung. The fire-place is in the centre of the hut, and the smoke passes through the straw of the roof. The CafFres never build their kraals very near a river, that they may avoid the fog and the cold, preferring a woody and sheltered situation. The principal support of this people is the milk and flesh of their cattle, and bread made from their CafFre corn ; for it is reckoned contemptible to eat fish, and they have neither sheep, goats, hogs, nor fowls. If a man be poor, and has no 218 DR. VAXDF.RKRJMr's TRAVELS cattle, says Vanderkemp, *' he goes to the king and to the captains, who always give him more than a sufficient quantity." This practice among a savage people, is most remarkable, and strongly contrasts with the selfish usages of refined nations. Besides this, they have the resources of hunting and agriculture, when they choose, or when ne- cessity may compel them to rouse themselves to laborious exertion, which, however, is seldom the case. The CafFre corn is sown by the women over the grass, without the use of plough or spade j and manure seems altogether unnecessary. The grass is pushed off afterwards by a wooden in- strument, and the seed of the corn, taking root, springs up from under the withered grass. This corn the Doctor calls a kind of millet, which, when boiled, he considers more palatable than rice j and even the stalks upon which it grows, when chewed, have a saccharine taste. This plant must resemble the sugar cane, for the stalk is an inch thick, and grows to a height of from seven to ten feet. The corn is usually eaten boiled like rice, or they bruise it between two stones, and make unleavened bread of it. The IN bOUTllJillN AFKlCA. 219 natives have also learned the art of brewinij a fermented liquor from their corn, malting it, making a decoction from it, and allowing the wort to ferment like the Europeans. They have another grain often used in the colony, called meelis, and which is to be heard of in Holland, by (he name of Turkish corn. The people sow, besides these, a species of pumpkin and water melon, and usj many other vegetables that grow wild in the vallies, as well as roots and fruits unknown in Europe. The Caflfres also cultivate tobacco in great quantities, and use it by drawing its smoke through a wooden pipe. They eat no salt, which they seem to dis- like, and have other condiments instead, which we should not think at all cleanly. Money is unknown in Caffraria, but their cattle, and other necessary articles of property, they make use of as the representative of value in their barters and purchases. They light their fires by means of the friction of two pieces of a peculiar sort of wood rubbed together, or turned quickly round between the hands, and pressed down j as is done also by the islanders of the vSouth Sea. The CafFres seem to have no notion of decency 220 DU. VANDEIlKEMP's TRAVELS or modesty, for, if the cold did not compel them to cover their bodies, the Doctor says they would go naked. They do not cover their heads, but usually wear a kind of diadem made of copper, about an inch broad, or an ornament of beads, or both. From their ears, they wear suspended a small chain of beads or of buttons, and round the left arm, above the elbow, they wear several rings of ivory, some of which being put on in youth, they are obliged to file off with much trouble and pain afterwards, to relieve the wearer from the pressure and inflammation they occasion, when the arm grows to the adult size. They are very fond of wearing strings of beads or metal chains, round their necks, legs, arms, and waists, also bracelets of metal round their wrists ; and on the right arm, above the elbow, they tie five or six tiger's teeth. Their general dress is a large brown-coloured robe or cloak, made of cow-skins, prepared so as to be soft and flexible like woollen cloth. The cloaks of the captains are usually formed of tiger skins ; the women's are made like those of the men, but fastened to the body in the middle, by a girdle of leather, and thus the upper part is often IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 221 formed into a sort of bag for holding the woman's infant^ which she by this means carries on her back. The women wear a long-eared cap made of the skin of an animal called by the colonists buth-buck, and both they and the children wear aprons of this skin. " The gentecler sort of women," the Doctor says, " sew to the back of their cloaks rows of buttons, and to each shoulder a bunch of the tails of different animals, the most common of which are tigers and wild cats." The Caffres often paint their faces and bodies uniformly, with the dust of a kind of red chalk, but do not use different colours, as the Hottentots do. They have, however, a mode of ornamenting their arms, backs, and breasts, in a very curious and uncommon manner. Thrusting a pointed iron through the skin, and drawing the latter for- cibly up, so as to make it form a i)rotruding point, or cicatrice, about the size of a grain of wheat, they continue this operation until they make double, triple, or quadruple rows of these pro- minent cicatrices, thus forming a sort of basso- relievo work or ornament, protruding from the body. The men wear a kind of sandal of thick leather, u 2 2'22 DR VANDERKEMP'S TRAVELS fastened with strings to the foot, over which is placed another piece of leather, thus fornriing a sort of slipper. The Doctor never saw the women with shoes of any kind 3 both sexes, how- ever, wear rings of metal on their fingers and great toes. The men always carry a club and other weapons, and when they go to war or to hunt lions, they carry shields cut out of the ox's hide, hardened, and of an oblong-square form. All the labour is performed by the women, who build the house, make the cloth and utensils, cut w^ood for their fires, and cultivate the gar- den. The man spends his life in almost total idleness, his only employment being to milk the cows, and occasionally to hunt and go to war. As to marriage, the woman's consent is never asked by a proposed husband, but he buys her of her parents for a certain number of his cattle, and by this contract only, she becomes his wife. The husband, however, cannot make merchan- dise of the woman by selling her again. They have generally two wives, and the captains four or five, besides concubines. No one but the king has the privilege of being buried at death. The common practice of these IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 223 barbarous people, is to lay their sick out in the fields, when they suppose their case to be despe- rate, and to allow them to be devoured by wolves before their death lakes place. The sick often recover and return to their houses, and are thus sometimes exposed a second and a third time. If the case seems incurable after a third exposure, they shut up the wretched sufferer in his hut, with a little meat and drink ; and breaking up the whole kraal, they go off and leave him to die. This they do as an act of self preservation, from a notion, that if they stay in the same place with a person dying of an incurable disease, it will spread through the whole society, or bring upon them some dreadful calamity. Without, there- fore, having any particular intentions of cruelty to the sick, they know no other remedy but to leave him to die, and to make an end of the dis- temper with its subject. From the same sort of motives, when they see any one in danger of be- ing drowned, " they are so frightened," says the Doctor, " that they will run from him or throw stones at him, rather than help him ; likewise, when a child-bearing woman is seized with her illness, every one runs from her, and she is loft helpless.'* 224 DR. VANDERKEMP'S TRAVELS Though a most savage people, the Doctor re- ports that the CafFres observe a peculiar decency in their manners. He does not consider them at all dirty in their habits or eating, as Vaillant has reported ; and thinks that the cases men- tioned by the Frenchman, were got up by the natives to deceive him, and to amuse themselves by his astonished looks and manner. He says, the Caflfres are nicer in matters of cleanliness, re- lating to eating and drinking, than many Euro- peans ; and gives an instance of their palpable de- ception of Vaillant, by giving him a word with an indecent meaning, as the name of a musical instrument, which he has reported accordingly in his book, and which misrepresentation, the Doc- tor's knowledge of the language enabled him to detect. Though conforming to the savage custom of exposing their dead to be devoured by wild beasts, the CafFres do not appear to be destitute of feel- ing. " When a Caffre mourns for a wife or child," says the Doctor, " he leaves his kraal, separates himself from the society, and retires into a wood or desert place, where he lives for one or two months 3 he then throws away his cloak and begs for another, and having got one he returns home." IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 225 This serious species of mourning, together with the readiness of the king and captains to give cattle to him that is by any accident reduced to poverty, speaks much for the feelings of people in such a state of mere nature. When they intend to honour a person whom they esteem, the Doctor tells us they give him a new name, the invention of the person wishing to confer the honour ; to which, however, is attached a meaning which Is quickly perceived by all who hear it. The Doctor supposed the population of the whole of the great district of Caflfraria to amount to about forty thousand males, besides women and children. 226 DR. VANDEllKExMr's TRAVELS CHAPTER V. Description of tlie general appearance and nature of the Caffre Country— Climate— Thunder Storms— Vegetable Productions — Animals— Custom when the King is side— Punishments for Crimes. Dr. Vanderkemp thinks that Caffraria is a per- fect paradise for a botanist, so rich is it in trees and plants which are novel to Europeans. Though the Doctor was possessed of much more general knowledge than is usual with Missionaries, he confesses his ignorance of that pleasing science ; having indeed, as he says, little taste for it, or for ought else but the propagation of Christianity. Before, however, noticing his brief remarks on the vegetable productions of CafFraria, we shall give some outline of his report of the general appearance of the country. The CafFrc country is mountainous, and ex- ceedingly well watered. The soil is argillaceous. IN SOUTIIliRV AFRICA. 227 tempered with fine sand, and exceedingly fertile, so that the whole surface of it, even the tops of the mountains, is covered with trees, shrubs, grass, and other vegetables, and is never naked or parched except in uncommonly dry seasons. The heat of the climate is not great. Indeed, consi- dering that CafFraria lies within seven or eight degrees of the tropic, it is an exceedingly cold country J but this may arise from its being consi- derably elevated above the level of the sea. Some other cause for its fertility than the heat of its climate must therefore exist, and the Doctor thinks that the strong electricity which he found to prev^ail in the atmosphere, together with the plentiful rains, and the high mountains, may be considered to account for that fact. There is but little difference in respect of cold between summer and winter, but the swallows leave the country at the time they call winter, and at the same season the Doctor also observed that not a parrot was to be seen. The thunder storms here are frequent and tremendous. The flash of lightning diffuses not here, as in Europe, a dazzling light through the air, which confuses the eye, and dis- appears in a moment -, '' but consists," says the 228 DR. VANDERKEMP's TRAVELS Doctor, " of a stream of distinct sparks, drawn by the earth from the clouds, or from one cloud to another." This stream is commonly double or treble, and lasts from two to three seconds at a time, having less light, but greater electric force than the flashes seen in Europe. The Doctor says nothing of any danger attending these fre- quent thunder storms, and adds, that the country is remarkably healthy. Sometimes, however, a putrid typhus breaks out, caused by the peculiar food of the people in dry seasons, when milk is scarce, and by their close confinement in their huts, which carries off great numbers of the na- tives. As to the vegetable productions of CafFrariaj the large thorn tree, from which the gum, that we call gum arable, exudes, appeared to our traveller the most common. The inner rind of this tree is eaten by the natives, and the outer one, which is of a bright red colour, serves them to prepare the skins of animals for clothing. He found here the willow, and the black and red ebony j but the other trees and shrubs are unknown in Europe, and would require a botanical description. With respect to the quadrupeds, besides a IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 229 serpent with four legs, formerly mentioned, the Doctor found wild horses, of two different sorts, running in the vallies j and another animal simi- larly formed, but larger, and streaked, of which he had heard at the Cape by the name of the unknown animal, was described to him by the natives. This strange creature had at that time never been caught or shot, as far as the Doctor could learn, it being so remarkably swift, that it was unap- proachable by man. On a plain, which was pointed out to the Doctor, these animals are said to abound, and their appearance is reported to be exceedingly beautiful. Among the lizard tribe of reptiles, he found the salamander, called by the natives geitje, and also the far-famed cameleon. Doubting the reports he had heard regarding the latter creature, he placed it upon different coloured substances, and found it turn succes- sively black, white, red, yellow, with green spots, and chocolate colour, but never blue. Among the common animals before alluded to, the Doctor found that the tiger of this country was not streaked, but spotted with small brown spots ; and he mentions one killed by a Caffre, which was black, with a slight intermixture of X 230 DR. VANDERKF.MP'S TRAVELS white hairs, and a shining streak of jet black over his back. The elephants of Caffraria are much taller than those of India, and what is very re- markable, the Doctor seems to have had good proof that these wise animals bury each other when they die, by digging a hole in the earth with their tusks, or at least hide their dead in some unknown manner. He never could find the bones of any of them above ground, and relates, that one of his own people having killed one in the woods, went with some women the next day to get out its teeth, when they were astonished to find the dead animal surrounded by about twenty other elephants, who appeared to be taking up the slain beast with their tusks. The natives, by their cries, drove them away, until one of them, turn- ing back, gave pursuit to the man, who found some difficulty in saving himself by hiding him- self in a thorn-bush. There are two kinds of wolves, the tiger-wolf and the strand-wolf -, the first of which is extremely troublesome, and often drags the CafFres out of their houses. But the common cow is here so courageous, that she will often stand against this wild animal, especially when it attacks her calf, and will fiiiht and beat IN SOUTlJtRX AFRICA. 231 him off, Tlie leopard, the Doctor says, is very tame, if educated when young, and makes a better hunter than a hunting dog. The stag found in Africa differs from the European animal of the same name, being both larger and fiercer, and its horns having no ramifying branches. The rhinoceros of Africa, and the sea-cow, have been often described. The former is the terror of the elephant, and sometimes puts many of these large animals to flight, but the sea-cow has such strength and courage, as often to throw the rhi- noceros from the rocks or cliffs down into the river, if it can get the latter chased to such a situation. Wild cats, wild dogs, jackalls, hons, tigers, quachas, or wild horses, baboons, hedge- hogs, and innumerable other animals, to which the Europeans have not yet given any popular names, are also abundant here. The wild dogs are very savage, and have a practice of seizing upon, and devouring pieces out of, the flesh of their prey without killing it ; and in this manner they sometimes put the ox, or such like large animals, to extreme torture. The Doctor also met in Caffreland with a peculiar kind of mouse, of a 232 DR. VANDERKEMP's TRAVELS beautiful blueish-grey colour, with a remarkable long, bushy tail, like that of a squirrel, but " adorn- ed with long hairs, and extended into a pyriform plume." He also found an " uncommon large toad, which has teeth in his mouth, and roars very loud." We cannot suspect the good Doctor of any travellers' tales, but may be allowed to wish he had given a more particular description of this roaring toad. As for the birds of Caffreland, large collections of them have been made since, we believe, by travellers, who have penetrated more or less into this part of Africa, and the variety of them is so great, and many of them are so beautiful, that we should consider Southern Africa a paradise for the ornithologist and the zoologist, as well as the botanist. Of the birds known in England, the Doctor mentions three kinds of crow that he had seen — the common black one, a black one with a white collar, and a grey one which has a yellow bill, if indeed all these can belong to the crow species. Of those unknown in England, he mentions one called hemos, which, when tamed, shows a remarkable attachment to man. He IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 233 had one of these birds, which flew freely about, and remained with him, and even followed him whenever he walked out. The Doctor observed an enormous large species of spider here, and another of a smaller size, having on its back a hard and very broad shell, like a white enamel. The large snails that he saw, we have before alluded to ; and there are multitudes of scorpions, the bite of which has been always considered mortal ; but it has an instrument or sting in its tail, with which it ge- nerally strikes a man, the wound of which is not mortal, as the Doctor himself found on more than one occasion. One day he felt a scorpion on his back, which had crept in between his shirt and his skin. The reptile stung him with its tail, but the wound soon healed. A great many species of snakes or serpents were observed by Dr. Vanderkemp in Caifraria, among which he mentions the large grey serpent of the woods, the yellow serpent, the green water snake, the large pofadder> and the viper of the mountains. The ants are numerous and of va- rious sorts, and sometimes build their nests to the height of three feet, and quite round. Another X 2 234 DR. VANDERKEMP's TRAVELS sort make their houses of a conical shape, with a sharp point at the top. There are a variety of animals of the locust species also, and a sort of butterfly, which the natives reverence almost as a Deity, and pray to it, begging it may not de- stroy them. Bees also must be numerous, for the Doctor mentions that wild honey is very plen- tiful. Dr. Vanderkemp most laudably attempted to make out some historical account of the Caffre people, which he gives at length, but which would be little interesting here, and we therefore omit it. Its chief feature is to show the limited power of the king, and the causes of war among the people. Rebellions are frequent, but considering the savage state of the people, they are not so sanguinary as might be expected; neither is the king so cruel or so arbitrary as any of the ordi- nary Deys of Algiers. It is a curious fact with regard to this people, that while committing a nuisance in a river is considered a crime, punish- able by death, murder is not considered any crime at all 3 aggravated circumstances only, making it criminal in the eyes of the people. The Doctor relates in corroboration of this. IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 235 that when three unfortunate Englishmen^ who had been shipwrecked on the coast, were murdered by the Caflfres the year before his arrival, upon Mr. Buys representing the action to Gika, as a barbarous cruelty, his black Majesty could see no cruelty in the matter. On the con- trary, he appeared quite astonished at this view of the case, and defended the murder, saying that its perpetrators had done well, as the English- men being strangers, had nothing to do in the country any more than the wolves. From this mode of reasoning, it may be judged what safety there was for the Doctor and his European friend in such a country. Upon the subject of the punishment of crime in CaflFraria, a fine of a few bullocks or cows is a very general mode of its infliction, and even any murder which is not thought very aggravated, is punished in this manner. Thefts among each other, which are very rare with the CaflFre people, are punished by beating the guilty person with a stick, in which the king himself, if at hand, generally officiates. When the CafFres do steal, it is only from strangers, or from the king him- self, whom they very frequently rob of his cattle. 236 DR. VANDEIIKEMP'S TRAVELS and who rarely punishes these thefts, if they be not extravagant. A practice is in use in Caffraria, which is com- mon under different modifications among savage nations. " When the king or any other person of distinction," says the Doctor, " is taken ill, a sorcerer is sent for, to discover the cause of his disease, which is always suspected to take its origin from the enchantments of some malevolent subject, and the person whom he asserts to be guilty, is immediately put to death." If the per- son who is to die be absent, the king sends exe- cutioners to the kraal where he lives, and though this be known to all its inhabitants, the person concerned is kept in ignorance of his fate till the time of his execution, for not even his wife will warn him of it. But notwithstanding this superstitious prac- tice, the people are by no means cruel in their nature, and criminals condemned for various offences, are often suffered to escape by the indul- gence of those who are charged with the execu- tion. The common mode of putting a cri- minal to death, is to stab him with the assagai or native spear. When any circumstance has IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 237 occurred of a favourable nature to the criminal, the executioners lead him out to a remote place, and there throw their assagais at him in such a man- ner, as to show him their merciful meaning, and not to hurt him j upon which he takes to his heels and makes his escape to another country. Of these merciful evasions of the arm of justice, the king seldom takes any notice. 238 DR. VAN niiUKliMP's TRAVELS CHAPTER VI. Continuation of Vanderkemp's Travels — Hottentots killed by the Boshcmen— Numbers of Wild Beasts — Intense Cold— Arrival at Graaff Reynet— Begins to labour among the Hottentots — Oppo- sition and Rebellion of the Colonists — Disposition of the Little Army for Battle — Departure for Algoa Bay, and founding of Bethelsdorp— Departure of the Doctor for the Capo— His further Labours and Death. Of the further travels of Dr. Vanderkemp in Africa, until his death, which took place in 1811, our account must of necessity be very brief. Having left, as before mentioned, his original station in the plain which had been appointed him by King Gika, he travelled about for several months in the early part of 1801, along with the following company as enumerated by himself ; viz. " four colonists, two Dutchmen, two ditto children, thirteen bastard children, one Cafifre man and a woman, (the rest of the Caffres having left him on the 4th of January), four Hottentots, six ditto women, about fifteen ditto children, two IN SOUTHERN AFFllCA. 239 Caff re girls, one boy of the Tamboucbi nation, five English deserters, one German ditto, one slave," in all, fifty-nine persons including himself. With this motley retinue he departed forth, with three waggons and a cart, having with him also about three hundred cattle, besides goats and sheep, and twenty-five horses. Proceeding north- west, they climbed mountains and crossed rivers as before, being occasionally dreadfully harassed by wolves and other wild beasts at night, whose roaring prevented the Doctor from his sleep, so necessary after the fatigues of the day. To the multitude that followed him, or such other people as joined his company, the Doctor occasionally preached where they rested, questioning his few and doubtful converts, and instructing the children as he best could. One night the Boshemen fell upon them as they slept, and a skirmishing struggle taking place between these troublesome barbarians and some of his own sentinels, some shots were fired, and his man, Thomas, was severely wounded by two arrows, which he received at the same instant in his body and head. A dog and cow were also shot this night, but whether 240 DR. VANDERKEMP'S TRAVELS the man recovered or not the Doctor does not say. At this time he describes his situation as very alarming. The only way they could keep off the wild beasts after it became dark, was by lighting fires, but not daring to do this for fear of their situation being discovered by the Boshe- men, who hovered about among the mountains, their condition, as may be imagined, was ex- ceedingly trying. One night, the Doctor sleep- ing under his waggon for protection, and creeping out in the dark upon some occasion of alarm, one of the horses kicked him on the breast -, he com- plains little of this, however, or aught else, in his journal, only saying, resignedly, that the Lord's care preserved him from being materially hurt. Proceeding afterwards towards the Dutch set- tlement of Graaff Reynet, his colonists and other of his people left him, so that only about twenty remained. One day his Hottentot who had been sent to a mountain to bleed some horses belong- ing to the Doctor, which he had placed there while ill of the disease of the country, was at- tacked by the Boshemen, and shot in the body with poisoned arrows. Upon this he ran down the mountain as fast as he could, and when he IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 241 came near to the Doctor, was so giddy that he could scarcely stand. He then began to vomit, and next attempting to give some account of the matter, he fell down as he spoke, and instantly expired at the Doctor's feet. This poor man and another, although but slightly wounded by the poisoned arrows, both died in less than a quarter of an hour after : the latter had dropped down dead before he reached the foot of the mountain. These savage Boshemen killed almost every one of the Doctor's horses, to the number of not less than fourteen, for what reason, ex- cept mere mischief, could not be ascertained. The death of the poor animals, it is said, was still more instantaneous than that of the men. The manner in which this deadly poison is got, is well known. It is extracted from the upper jaw of the serpent, and mixed with a red powder; and although dried up and kept for several years, its deadly qualities still remain unchanged. On the 31st of March, their road lay over a spot, which is considered to be the highest coun- try in all South Africa; and they halted beside a fine spring of water, called by the colonists Haa- 242 DR. VANDERKEMP'S TRAVELS zenfontein. Here the cold was found to be most intense, and the Doctor was feverish for two or three days, yet on the 5th of April, in the same neighbourhood, he contrived to preach to his peo- ple as usual, though, he says, it was with much difficulty. Shortly afterwards, encamping in what he calls a field, the Doctor says, that from the nmltitude and familiarity of wild beasts feeding around him, such as bonte-backs, spring-bucks, stags, jack- alls, leopards, wild dogs, and innumerable others, the plain looked more like a park than a wilder- ness. Cutting his way through the woods of the mountain, and soon after drawing near to the colonial country, the Doctor passed a sul- phurous bath near the >banks of the Great Fish River, and farther on, he found another newly formed bath, which, from its hepatic taste, was called by the inhabitants Mai, the Gunpowder Fountain. On the 14th of May he arrived at GraafF Reynet, where, to his great joy, he was met by his Missionary brethren, Vander- lingen and Read, the latter of whom became his future and constant associate. At this remote village the Doctor and his IN SOUTHERN AF)11CA. 243 brethren hboured among the Hottentots for about a year, these people sometimes attending him in considerable numbers. The neighbouring colo- nists, however, conceiving that the Missionaries, by instructing the natives who generally acted as their servants, in reading, writing, and religion, were putting them thereby on a level with themelves, rose up for many leagues round, and assembling in a body, seemed determined to drive the new teachers from the colony. Approaching the town, to the number of three hundred horsemen, the inhabitants of Graaflf Rey- net were greatly alarmed 3 however, being called upon by Meynier, the colonial commissary, to take up arms for their defence, they did so, but afterwards laid them down, and totally refused to fight against their countrymen. All the force that the commissioner had to meet this body of armed men, and their numerous retainers, was twenty-one dragoons from the Cape, and one officer ; but he had four pieces of ordnance, and he armed eighty Hottentots, and twenty Pandours, with a few other men to work the ordnance. The rebels were ready to fall upon the villagers 3 244 DR. VANDEllKEMr's TRAVELS and the people being alarmed lest they should be attacked whilst assembled in the church, (for preaching and prayer were as yet the only means used to repel the foe), Mr. Read addressed them and the soldiers, while the latter were under arms. The interpreter, Bruntjie, now came in from the country, and informed the Missionaries that the rebel colonists had resolved to have their lives. Meynier was exceedingly averse to fight- ings but had determined, if matters could not be settled by negociation, to resist gallantly. The refusal of the inhabitants, however, to fight against their countrymen, at first greatly disconcerted him 3 but seeing the readiness of the Hottentots to be led forth, he took courage, and began to post his few men. The Missionaries, who had, in the first instance, resolved to stay at home and pray, seeing the Hottentots marching out, resolved to follow, and though unarmed, to give at least their advice in this extremity. The miUtary tactics of Vander- kemp seem not to have been forgotten on this occasion, from the clearness with which he de- scribes the preparations for battle, in which he probably took a part, and the historical dignity IN SOUTH RRI^ AFRICA. 245 which he lends to his description of this miserable Hottentot army. " The line," says he, " was drawn up in the form of a crescent j the right, consisting of the Hottentots, leaned against the village ; the left, formed of the Pandours, against the church ; the English dragoons were in the centre ! the four field pieces, placed before the front, on the left, A guard was lodged in the church, loop holes being made in the wall to fire through. The rebels detached a party on horse- back, which turned round our left, endeavouring to get behind our line, but made their retreat when Mr. Lyndon marched towards them with the dragoons -, the rebels marched then in a body (except the inhabitants of the snow moun- tains, who separated from them), but halted with- in gun-shot, where they continued till half-past twelve, when they sent a message to request three days to deliberate." After all this splendid and con amore descrip- tion of the military disposition of a line of infan- try and cavalr}', amounting to 125 persons, black and white, the reader almost regrets that not a drop of blood was slicd : not the least trial of skill or valour, however, took place ; but after Y 2 246 DR. VANDERKEMP'S TRAVELS some negociation, and a few civil words on both sides, the complaints of the rebels were partly at- tended to, and both parties quietly dispersed. After this, however, the Doctor's situation was by no means pleasant at Graaff Reynet, and early the following year he and Mr. Read departed to establish a new mission by the coast, near a place called Algoa Bay. What motives induced him to fix himself upon the spot he did, has not been very clearly stated. It was situated about eight miles inland from the bay, and a more barren and miserable place cannot well be conceived. This settlement, however contemptible and wretched, as it is in every respect, became afterwards celebrated in Missionary letters and reports, by the name of Bethelsdorp, or Bethel Village, — that is " the House of God and Gate of Heaven." Several houses, or rather huts, were erected in an irregular manner, although there was not a tree or scarcely a bush near, to cheer the bleak and sterile aspect of the place ; and a " church" was also raised which, like the other houses, was built of reeds. In this miserable spot the Doctor and his friends continued to contend with barrenness and IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 247 barbarism for several years, and here he establish- ed a school, and is said to have made a number of Hottentot converts. Complaints having how- ever been made against him from time to time to the Dutch Government at the Cape, he and Mr. Read, after various adventures at a place called Fort Frederick, whither they had been forced to fly for the protection of the English soldiers, arrived at the Cape in 1 806. With his last arrival at Graaf Reynet from Caffre the Missionary travels of Dr. Vanderkemp may be considered as at an end. He had for a long period entertained the project of estabhshing a mission in the island of Madagascar j and having received some favour from the Governor on his arrival at the Cape, he endeavoured to carry his project into eflfect, but without success. His health was now much on the decline, and continu- ing to preach at Cape Town at intervals, and with Mr. Read to devote himself to the instruction of Hottentots and Europeans, he was, on Saturday, the 7th December, 1811, seized with a shivering, which terminated in fever, and he died in peace a few days afterwards. Thus terminated the life of one of the most 248 DR. VANDERKEMP's TRAVELS. remarkable men that ever engaged in Missionary pursuits. With a disposition to benevolence the most unbounded, and acquirements much beyond those of ordinary Missionaries 3 the state of his mind in his latter life, confined the exercise of these endowments to a narrow sphere, where his sacrifices and exertions were thanklessly received, and their nature and value could not be under- stood. Besides all that he did in the service of religion and civilisation. Dr. Vanderkemp spent his private fortune in the emancipation of many African slavesj and whatever habits his eccen- tricities may have led him into in his latter years, he enjoyed to the last the confidence of the Mis- sionary Society, and has ever received the respect and admiration of the religious world. 249 REV. JOHN CAMPBELL. FIRST JOURNEY INTO THE INTERIOR OF SOUTH AFRICA. CHAPTER I. Departure from the Cape, and proposed plan— First chain of moun- tains— General description of the appearance of the interior — Contrasts of scenery — Difficulties of impelling the oxen and wag- gons over the passes and mountains — Description of George, a new town on the coast. The condition of the wild tribes who inhabit the vast regions of the interior of Africa, beyond the colonial district of the Cape of Good Hope, had, by the accounts of Vanderkemp and others, excited such attention in England, particularly among those who took an interest in the pro- mulgation of Christianity and the spread of 250 Campbell's tirst jouhney civilisation, that soon after the death of that remarkable man, another individual was sent out by the London Missionary Society, to examine and report upon as much of the country as he was able, in one journey, to explore. The per- son thus appointed was the Rev. John Campbell, a man possessed of the requisites of a Mis- sionary traveller in a very considerable degree j but as his sensible and matter-of-fact accounts of his several journeys are already before the public in an extended form, a brief digest of them, as far as they relate to our immediate object, is all that wt propose here to offer. Arriving at the Cape, on the 22nd of October, 1812, after a voyage of ten weeks, from Eng- land, Mr. Campbell was kindly received by Mr. Kircherer and others, but was advised not to pro- ceed on his long journey until the sultry summer months, just begun, should be over. It was not, therefore, until the 29th of December, that he set out from Stillenbosch, a small town in the neigh- bourhood J designing to travel along the coast, by nearly the same route formerly taken by Vander- kemp J to proceed first to Bethelsdorp and Graaff Rcynet, and next to penetrate several hundred IX SOUTH AFRICA. 251 miles further into the interior. Crossing the country westward afterwards, by the banks of the Great Orange River, — which runs through a vast extent of wilderness region in that direction, until it joins the Atlantic Ocean on the same side of the continent, — his intention was to leave this river at some interior point, and to return to the Cape by a route at no great distance from the western coast. Directing therefore his course eastward, he men- tions that there is a chain of mountains about thirty- six miles from the Cape, which, commencing at the sea near to which he was travelling, runs more than half-way across to the western side of the continent. These mountains are so steep as to resemble a wall raised towards the heavens, as if to prevent all access to the interior. Yet the flowers which every where adorned the face of this natural wall, were exceedingly beautiful and refreshing to the sense, as if planted there to cheer the mind of the toiling traveller, who courageously attempted to scramble up the rugged clififs of this precipice. Up this moun- tain, however, he did climb, by its single prac- ticable pass ; while he witnessed with pain the 252 Campbell's first journey struggling of the horses, as they dragged the waggon up the chfF. Were a thousand men posted at the top of this pass, they could defend it, he says, against all the armies of the world. When he had reached the summit of the moun- tain, the immediate prospect was that of an extensive desert. As they journeyed on, they saw a species of field-burning, which has not been noticed by Dr. Vanderkemp. At the dry season of the year, it is the practice of the Dutch settlers, or boors, to set fire to the heath and long dry grass upon the extensive grounds, which, when in a state of combustion, has a peculiar and imposing effect upon the traveller in the distance, however fatal it must be to the myriads of reptiles and other noxious vermin who swarm among the herbage. After the ground is cleared by these burnings, if it happens to rain, a fine crop of grass soon springs up. Mr. Campbell saw much diversity of scenery as he journeyed on. Occasionally, the land he passed over was desert, with abrupt and craggy rocks. More generally, it was a wild and lux- uriant wilderness, in wandering through which. IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 253 the mind was filled with a sentiment of lone- liness, and of abstraction from all social nature, which was almost oppressive. In these situations the wildest beasts were not rare, but the birds were seldom met with ; for though the songsters of the grove, and the rich plumaged birds of all sorts, evidently fear man, they love to hover near to human habitations. Sometimes he tra- velled for days without seeing a house of any kind, and fell in with districts where the bushes were so close, that none but wild beasts could penetrate through them. Wastes and wild tracks of rich woodland seemed to alternate with low hills, peaked mountains, rocks, and streams. "Halting at one place, I walked to an emi- nence," says he, " whence I had an extensive view of the wilderness around. Lions and tigers have surely a right to reign and roam here, as neither man nor domesticated animals appear to inhabit it. The sight of a bird does not remove the gloom, which seems to overhang every thing ; for its solitary situation rather excites pity than conveys pleasure." Sometimes the tract was sterile, yet agreeable, 254 camvbkll's iirst journey but the romantic and rich views, to be seen oc- casionally, were cheering and often grand in the highest degree. In one place near the house of a settler, he counted twenty-nine aloes in flower ; some of the stalks of which measured thirty-eight feet in heighth, and two and a half in circum- ference at the bottom, being the growth only of one year. " What a curiosity," he exclaims, " would these be esteemed in the vicinity of Lon- don, where it is believed they only come into flower once in a hundred years ; at which impo- sition on London credulity, the Africans laugh heartily. If an aloe produces seed when it sends up a flower, it dies that year j if not, it lives and sends forth a flower again." In some places he found the country to abound with geraniums and wild flowers, which are preserved with care as great curiosities in Europe, and found that the wheels of his waggons, as they crushed the bushes and shrubbery on their passage, produced a smell which reminded him of an apothecary's shop in England. High and craggy ridges and mountain passes, most dangerous to travel over, were contrasted IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 255 with low tracts of bushless plains, or morasses between the vallies, extending many miles and filled with tall bull-rushes and rank water-plants. His road lay at one place through a forest of most venerable trees, whose loftiness and great size convinced him that many of them must have flourished there for ages, unseen perhaps by mor- tal eye. A thousand of these enormous trees, he adds, could scarcely be missed out of this im- mense forest, yet here they grew for centuries and decayed without use 3 but could they be transported to such a place as London, their value as timber would be very great indeed. The extraordinary tree from the highest branches of which hangs a sort of vegetable rope, he found also in the woods, which is named by the natives Bavian's low, or Baboon's rope j as also wild vines in abundance climbing up the trees, some of which might have measured about two hundred feet in height. The orange groves near the houses of the settlers, often grew with great luxuriance, and besides geraniums and myrtles rising to a great heighth in the wilderness, he found the passion flower growing in great perfection among the ^56 Campbell's first journey trees and shrubbery. But the immense variety of flowers, flowering plants, and trees, to be found in this part of the African Continent, struck him, as they had done many others, with admi- ration and astonishment. Yet does not the lux- uriant vegetation of the Colonial wilderness, appear to be attended with those unwholesome effects here, which the same growing richness and rapid decay, produces on many other thinly inhabited continents. At one place in the forest, the travellers found a path made through it, pro- bably by the elephants, which was nearly dark, being completely arched over with branches of trees. Crossing a river which ran through this wood at the bottom of a mountain, they stopped, and got upon an island in the centre, to obtain a proper view of the striking scenery around. The steep sides of the hills, were covered with ancient trees similar to those formerly mentioned, and the whole appeared to hang completely over the pigmy beings who passed this way. On looking upwards and around him, to all that was in his view, — "grandeur upon grandeur T' was the only exclamation, by which the admiring Missionary could express his involuntary emotion. IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. Ibl The difficulties that the travellers encountered in impellino- their oxen and waggons over all this variety of country, were often as trying to their feelings as to their patience. Sometimes in as- cending rocky cliffs, or labouring their way through narrow passes in the mountains, though twenty-four oxen were employed in dragging the waggons up steep places, the poor animals were frequently on their knees, and by their falls and groans excited the compassion of those who were forced to urge them on in their arduous labour. In clambering over these difficult passes, the noise of whips and tongues, the ratthng of wheels over stones, and the uncouth cries of the Hottentot drivers, often echoed strangely among the moun- tain solitudes, through which they were thus urging their way. In one place they came to a descent of about ninety feet ; but this compara- tively short pass was so exceedingly steep, that the attempt to descend it seemed like dropping the waggons from the top to the bottom. On look- ing down this steep, which might almost be called a precipice, the traveller was startled fully as much as his cattle ; but the drivers comforted z 2 258 Campbell's first journey him with the pleasant consideration, that it was not quite so difficuh as some others that he had yet to encounter. The trained animals slid down the descent, and often lay down entirely, and thus, by their own instinctive art and caution, at length safely reached the bottom. Of all Mr. Campbell's drivers, who had led his poor oxen through these difficult passes, he was, strange to say, most indebted to the skill and boldness of a slave girl, about seventeen years of age. This courageous female led the cattle forward, cheerfully and without fear, over places where the beasts were in perpetual danger of falling upjon her, and crushing her against the rocks ; or where the Missionaries were afraid every moment, from the rugged nature and in- equalities of the road, that their waggon would be tumbled over the precipices, and dashed to pieces. In one place a spot was pointed out to them where this species of accident had befallen a former traveller, and the sight of the broken remains of a waggon at the bottom of the rocks, could not be very comforting to those who were at the moment running the same risk. IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 259 Throughout this and the greater part of his journey eastward, Mr. Campbell and his friends occasionally encountered, on the most remote spots, among obscure kraals of the natives, solitary Dutch or Moravian Missionaries, who were labouring to teach the poor natives the things known to the Europeans, and partly living hke other colonial settlers. At intervals, also, in this quarter, he fell in with small set- tlements or forts, erected by the Dutch or British, in which lived a few secluded indivi- duals, and perhaps an officer or two appointed over the European and native people. Of these, a town called George, situated near the coast, fully half way on between the Cape and Bethels- dorp, appeared to be the most considerable in all this district. The town of George was founded the year before, by the advice of Lord Caledon, late Governor at the Cape, and its situation seemed to our traveller exceedingly well chosen. The scenery around is majestic 3 the soil good for either corn or pasture : there is plenty of clay for making bricks, as well as abundance of hme 260 Campbell's first journey on the sea shore, only a few miles distant. Already many new buildings had been erected to form the town. Two principal streets were planned, which should cross each other at right angles, and a handsome church was to be placed in the centre. The streets, then building, were two hundred feet in width, with a row of trees on each side of them, agreeable to the fashion in warm climates. This town is well supplied with water, which, Mr. Campbell says, is wholesome and good, though quite the colour of Lisbon wine. This is no uncommon circumstance in Africa. In some places it looks as if mixed with milk, but yet is found to be very fit for use. In others it has a more unsightly appearance, being of all colours, except such as implies purity. Much of this town, our traveller says, is built of the iron tree, — a wood so hard as to be almost like iron, and solid and heavy, resembling marble. So rich and extensive is the wood in the neighbourhood, that there is sufficient timber in it at present to supply all the inhabitants which may settle here for a thousand years to IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 261 come. The great variety of plants, too, inter- mixed with these trees, seemed to supply end- less subjects of observation and enquiry to in- telligent travellers J and, indeed, says our Mis- sionary quaintly, " it would require a life pro- longed to the age of Methuselah, to be able to view all the wonders of nature on this con- tinent." 262 Campbell's riRsi journly CHAPTER II. Some Account of Bethelsdorp — Its barren situation and wretched appearance — Amount of Population, and general state — Arrival at Graaff Reynet — Travels through the Boshemen's country — Arrival at the Orange River — The Country and its Banks— The Travellers cross the River, and arrive at Griqua town. On the 20th of March, 1813, our travellers arrived at Dr. Vanderkemp's village of Bethels- dorp. In the founding of this settlement, as in many other of his proceedings in the latter part of his life, the Doctor seems to have courted for the scenes and subjects of his labours, sterility and barbarism, difficulty and danger. How any man whose mind was in a sane state, could select such a wretched waste as the miserable bare flats near the little Zewartkops River, by Algoa bay, it is difficult to conceive ; while the wide continent of Africa presented so infinite a variety — scenery so charming — situations apparently so convenient, IN SOUTIIEllN AFRICA. 263 and even tribes of people so comparatively in- teresting. But all things that are done from motives avowedly pious, will find numerous de- fenders, and with such it is not our business here to argue. The journal of Mr. Campbell's proceedings, during his stay at Bethelsdorp, does not consist entirely, as is often the case, of an account of the number of times he preached, the pious expres- sions of converts, or the respect and attention paid to himself. He gives a very candid account of the extremely " miserable appearance" both of the place and people, defends the wretched mode of building the rude huts, by a reference to the uncertainty of any prospect of permanency for the settlers -, and the state of the sheep-skin clad people, by a reference to their savage habits, which had not as yet been materially improved. The village, however, or town, is admitted to be built in a style fully " as irregular as the city of Norwich, or town of Manchester," in England ; but " the ground on which it stands," to use our traveller's own words, " is barren in the extreme, so that nothing green is to be seen near the houses ; this also adds to the gloominess of the village. 264 Campbell's first jouiini:y Neither trees nor gardens are to be seen to relieve the eye j but all this arises from the total want of good water on their ground, except in the barren spot where the village stands. In consequence of the miserable appearance of the village, the settlers are by many people reported to be ex- tremely indolent." The people were not only as indolent as Africans generally are, and as any people would be, inhabiting a waste where they had so Httle encouragement to industry, but a loathsome disease was prevalent among them, and this village was reported to be the seat of it j but only, however, as our traveller says, " in the same way that the Lock Hospital, Penitentiary, Magdalen, or other hospitals in London, may be so considered." As to the population of Bethelsdorp, the num- ber of men, women, and children, then belonging to it, Mr. Campbell reports as amounting to fully a thousand, but he only found present about six hundred. Although little improvement had at that time taken place in the external circumstances of the people, notwithstanding the continued labours of Mr. Read, the former companion of Vanderkemp, and others whom Mr. Campbell IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 265 foi nd at this place 3 and who still persevered in confining their exertions to a spot so ill chosen;— a number of converts had even then been made, and although, also, no regular at- tendance was given by the children at the Mis- sionary schools, they could generally calculate upon about fifty pupils at a time, and some of the people at intervals practised various trades, which had been taught them by their instructors. The people of this settlement seem, from the vague statement of our traveller upon this sub- ject, to live chiefly on their cattle, which are fed on such pasture as they can find at a considerable distance from Bethelsdorp. No gardens cheer the eye, on the whole face of the barren slope on which the village stands; for little cultivation can take place so near. Of the trades said to be prac- tised by the natives at Bethelsdorp, of which Mr. Campbell diffidently enumerates eighteen, Mr. Latrobe, the Moravian traveller and Missionary, who also visited this spot, speaks with the greatest contempt. The ^' carpenters " and " builders" could certainly build a house or hut with reeds, and the "thatchers" could thatch it with rushes and leaves. The "blanket makers" could sew sheep-skins 266 Campbell's fiiist journey together, and so make excellent blankets; and the "tailors" could cut out the skins of several animals into certain shapes 3 the ^'^ lime-burners" could gather hme-stones together, and set fire to the wood beneath them; and the ''auctioneer" could practise such a calling, when he had ought to sell, or when there was any body to buy 3 but, according to the travelling Moravian's report, the mill of the "miller" would not grind, and the blacksmith's shop was without a bellows, or, at least, the bellows would not blow, and, therefore, the skill of the artificer was but little put to the trial. Since that time, however, by great per- severance, Bethelsdorp has been much improved in every respect. In this quarter of the world, at least, the Mo- ravians seem to have chosen their settlements with more judiciousness, and to have better un- derstood the art of civilising their converts. On the part of the supporters of missions at home, the error seems to be, in never seeing any thing faulty in the conduct of a man who talks loudly and enthusiastically about making converts. Upon this subject, referring to the state of this settlement, Mr. Campbell sensibly says, " Truth, IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 267 however, obliges me to confess, that had the founder of Bethelsdorjj, Dr. V^anderkemp, been more aware of the importance of civilisation, there might at least have been more external ap- pearance of it than there now is. He seems to have judged it necessary, rather to imitate the savage in appearance, than to induce the savage to imitate hiin 3 perhaps considering his conduct countenanced by what Paul says of his becoming all things to all men, that he might gain some. The Doctor would appear in public without hat, stockings or shoes, and probably without a coat." He even approximated nearer to the savage than by the mere omission of certain gar- ments of decency, when, as our traveller says, he appeared " in public." From Bethelsdorp, Mr, Campbell departed early in April, together with Mr. Read, who had agreed to be his companion during the whole of his interior journey. Arriving at Graaff Reynet on the first of May, the travellers soon after de- parted thence, and shaping their course nearly due south, over the mountainous and somewhat barren district called the Snewberg, they, about the twentieth, passed the last habitation of white men, and came into the wild tract foruieiiy 268 Campbell's first journey travelled by Vaillant, now called the Boshemen's country. The frost in this quarter was ex- tremely keen during the night. At first, they often saw lions on their way, with elks and a few other animals, who, however, offered them no injury. Afterwards, for days together, not even an animal was to be seen, far less a hu- man face. It appeared, says the traveller, to be a land forsaken. Though the vegetation of some sorts was plentiful, and the country picturesque, yet grass for their cattle, and water to drink, now became objects of constant anxiety to him. This part of Africa, says our traveller, " must, from the want of water, remain a wilderness to the end of time 5 it cannot be inhabited, though its general appearance is charming." Extensive plains, interspersed with hills of various, but beautiful forms, was pretty generally its cha- racter 5 and, as for the weather, though the season was winter, it was delightful. At one place they came to a large plain, per- haps 100 miles in circumference, at one end of which was a considerable lake, the first that our travellers had seen on their route, for in no country in the world are lakes so scarce as in Africa. The I)lain, beside this lake, they found to abound with IN SOUTH E It N .AFRICA. 269 game, particularly various kinds of bucks. They shot nine bucks and one ostrich, and one of their Boshemen followers managed to kill a quacha^ the wild species of horse so abundant here, of the flesh of which these l^osheinen are extremely fond. After travelling near a month without seeing a human face but those of his own followers^ and one single Bosheman's family, he, on arriving at a height, obtained, with joyful sensations, his first view of the Great, or Orange River, which crosses the continent directly westward, about the twenty- ninth degree of south latitude, until it falls into the Southern Atlantic Ocean. The delight of men and cattle, on reaching the water in this dry and thirsty land, can hardly be described. The oxen ran into it, and drank, and drank again, as if they could never have enough, and then began to eat of the long rich grass which carpeted its banks. The travellers now found some natives, who told them of a place that was fordable considerably higher up the stream, and they then journeyed along its banks for several days. As they proceeded on, Mr. Campbell says, *' thou- sands of acres of fine hay, upwards of two feet long, surrounded our waggons ; but it must all 2 a2 270 CAMPBELLS FIRST JOURNEY be suflFered to rot, being of little use in this for- saken land. Could it be transported," continues the Missionary, with great simplicity, "free of expence to London, what a fund for doing good would it not produce !" Travelling along these pleasant banks, among other curious plants and shrubs, our author found a bush, very abundant here, which has been significantly named, in the native dialect, stop-a-while. This bush is furnished with very peculiar thorns, exactly shaped like a fishing- hook, so that, says the Missionary, '* if they catch hold of your clothes as you pass, you 7nust stop a while, sometimes a long while, before you get clear of them, as I frequently experienced afterwards." The reason of this catching quality in the thorn tree is, that in freeing himself on one side, the person who is caught is almost sure to get freshly entangled on the other, and, if no second person is at hand to help him, and to hold back the branches of the bush, it is hardly possible to get off without leaving his dress behind, attached to the bush. Proceeding still easterly, along the margin of the river, they found the soil red, and rather IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 271 stony 5 and among the flowers which here and there sprung up, the prhnrose was at this time in full bloom. The water of the river having fallen considerably, a ford was tried by a Boshe- man on horseback, and afterwards, with some difficulty, the whole cavalcade passed safely over. Mr. Campbell does not think fit to give us any particulars of the breadth of the river, even at the place where he crossed it. Shortly after they had passed over, they came to a rising ground, on which was a kraal of the Boshemen. The huts were low and shaped hke an oven, and were covered with mats made of reeds. The people in these poor huts appeared cheer- ful j and yet, in respect of clothing, or any thing like comfort, they seemed to the Missionary exceedingly wretched. One of the women who came out to look at them wore, hanging from one ear, a long piece of copper, and from the other a round piece of the same metal, as large as a dollar. The men wore similar ornaments, were clothed in sheep skins, and carried in their hands the assagai or spear of the Caffres. The chil- 272 Campbell's first journey dren were healthy- looking and even handsome, but entirely naked, wearing nothing whatever except a row of beads round their necks. The next place the travellers halted at was a Missionary station, called Klaar water, or Griqua town, where they found friends to talk to on their own afifairs, and a congregation of natives, to whom they preached. The Mission- aries settled here, had a large and productive gar- den, in which, with some smaller ones that the natives had also cultivated, grew excellent potatoes, with cabbages, kidney-beans, peas, pumpkins, tobacco, and millet or Indian corn. A vineyard was also here, which was but indiflFe- rent, but plum and peach trees throve well. The fountain or spring from whence the place takes its name, is sweet at its head, about half a mile from the village, but by the time it arrives there it tastes brackish, from the abundance of salt- petre with which the ground over which it passes is mixed. Having rested here a few days, and made fur- ther preparations for prosecuting their journey to the great Bosheman town of Lattakoo,Mr. Camp- IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 273 bell travelled on, being now accompanied by two other Missionaries, named Anderson and Kok, who also meant to visit the Bosheman capital 3 and now their whole cavalcade consisted of three waggons, with the necessary oxen and atten- dants. 274 Campbell's first jouiiNiiY CHAPTER HI. Description of the Shining Mountain and Cavern — The travellers arrive at Lattakoo — Hear of the murder of an exploring party — Conference with nine Chiefs — Visit from the King — Peculiarities of tlic people — Fantastic dances— Want ofsympatliy — The King's dinner— Story of the Cayenne pepper. The next object worthy of mention, which the travellers met v/ith in the course of the remainder of their journey towards Lattakoo, was the Blink, or Shining Mountain, which from the pilgrimages made to it out of all parts of the neighbouring country, deserves to be called the Mecca of the Boshemen. These pilgrimages to the Shining Mountain, however, are not like those of the Mussulmen to the tomb of the Prophet, of a religious cha- racter, but simply to obtain a blueish powder which the mountain furnishes, and which the natives IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 275 use for sprinkling among their hair ; it having been the fashion from time immemorial in this country, for the natives to use a hair powder of this peculiar colour. The powder is chiefly found in a cavern in the mountain, and is composed of a species of lead, somewhat like that of which the pencils are formed in England. Another part of this low, flat- topped hill, produces a spe- cies of red chalk or stone, with which some of the surrounding; nations paint their bodies. It is, therefore, little to be wondered at, that the place should be one of great resort. The dull sameness of life in these wilds, forms a constant excuse for such pilgrimages, which, as the variety of scene and adventures that they bring, affords much entertainment to the rambling- savage, the relief that is thus given to the torpor of his kraal existence, makes these pilgrimages always pleasant and popular. Mr. Campbell and his friends ascended the hill, which consists, at the top, of an assemblage of dark brown rocks, and seems entirely to have been produced by some volcanic eruption. The travellers also descended into the cavern with lights, and pene- trated above a hundred feet into the interior of 276 Campbell's first journey the mountain j sometimes wading through the blue dust until it reached half way up their legs, and in other parts of this gloomy cavern, this dust so flew about, that it almost extinguished their lights. The roof was arched, and studded with the projecting pieces of the Shining Rock, between which there seeuied something closely wedged and, which as the explorers of the cavern looked up, appeared exactly like carved work. Putting up the lights, however, close to the part, to satisfy their curiosity more fully, they found that the supposed earved work was nothing but myriads of sleeping bats j which, crowded together in a dormant state, adhered to the roof by the claws of their hinder legs. These bats could not be roused otherwise than by put- ting the torches close up to them^ upon which some of them letting go their hold, flew oflf to another part of the cavern. When the travellers left this gloomy place, and again emerged into the daylight, they were almost as black as chim- ney sweeps, from the dark powder that adhered to them. Journeying on from the shining mountain and IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 277 its cavern, the travellers found the country here much better watered than on any former part of their journey ; and in one place they saw a foun- tain flowing out of another cavern, which issued forth in a gush of water several yards wide and nearly eighteen inches deep. Fountains and kraals became now more plentiful as they pro- ceeded on, and at the latter end of June, they arrived at what Mr. Campbell is pleased to call *' the city" of Lattakoo. The irregular assemblage of Boshemen's houses, which has been dignified by the title of a city under the above name, lies in a sloping valley, and is situated nearly in the centre, between the eastern and western shores of Africa, and about the 27th degree of south latitude. What the pro- bable amount of the population is, our travellers have informed us as well as they could, by men- tioning that the town contains fifteen hundred houses, which, calculating their inmates at five to each dwelling, will make it seven thousand five hundred persons. The waggons of the Mis- sionaries having been conducted into a square enclosure opposite to where the chief lived, whom the travellers also call the king, they ascertained 2 B 278 CAMrBTLL's FIRST JOURNEY that his majesty was not at home, but the people, including the women and children, soon crowded round them to the number of above a thousand, deafening them with their horrid bawl- ing and chatter. On arriving at this large kraal, the travellers learned that an exploring party had some- time before been sent by Lord Caledon from the Cape, consisting of twenty-two men, besides a Dr. Cowan, and a Lieutenant Donovan ; and that after penetrating to some distance beyond Lattakoo, they had never more been heard of. The murder of these unfortunate persons being by this time acknowledged by a neighbouring tribe, and known to this people, they imagined that the Missionaries were now come to revenge that atrocity. Perceiving the people whispering strangely together, from this suspicion, Mr. Camp- bell thought it prudent, notwithstanding the tem- porary absence of the king, to request a con- ference with the chief men among the people, in order that he might at once explain the real objects of his visit. A little after sunset, therefore, on the same evening, nine of the principal men, having IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 279 accepted of the invitation of the strangers, entered their tent, and sat down upon the ground. Three interpreters were ready in attendance upon this conference 3 to wit, one for the Dutch, another for the Coranna, and a third for the Bootchuana language. The faces of the chiefs who thus sat on the ground, were painted red, and their hair was highly powdered with the blue powder. " Their countenances," says Mr. Campbell," " indicated the possession of good natural parts j and had they been dressed with wigs and gowns, like our English judges, I think their appearance would have been highly respectable." We can- not doubt the opinion of the good Missionary, but our " English judges" would not, we think, be particularly proud of the comparison. Mr. Campbell made a speech to this respectable deputation, in which he informed the powdered chiefs that he had come from a far country, beyond the sun, where was known the true God, who made all the things they saw around them, and concerning whom they were willing to teach them all they knew ; or, he added, they would at least send them teachers who should instruct them, provided they and their king signified •«i80 Campbell's first journey their willingness to receive and attend to such teachers. To all thiSj however, the chiefs replied they could give no answer, excepting that they would tell the king what had been said -, and they sent forthwith a messenger to request his majesty to return to the city, that he might attend upon this important business. Seeing that the conference was ended so agreeably, one of the chiefs re- marked to Mr. Campbell, that he had not yet tasted any of his tobacco. The Missionary, con- sidering this as an intelligible hint, gave the chief a portion of the herb, which was accepted with every satisfaction. A woman now entered, whom the travellers designate as " one of the queens," and brought them some milk. In requital for this politeness, the Missionaries gave the lady a little tobacco j but she, in addition, asked Mr. Read for some snufFj and upon his replying that that was an article which he did not use himself, her majesty shrewdly replied, that " he would have the more to give away on that account." The king's name, it apj)ears, was Mateebe, and it was several days after this before he IN SOUTHERN AFRICA, 281 returned to his city of Lattakoo. On arriving, however, one day after sunset, he, attended by his brother and some of his chief men, entered the tent of the Missionaries. He sat down, and was silent, waiting until he should see the pre- sents he was to receive. Some trinkets were given to him by Mr. Campbell, and also the lid of his shaving-box, which contained a looking- glass. As these articles were taken out of the parcel and offered to him, the king continued to look slily towards it, to see what might be coming next. When he saw no more presents coming, he opened his mouth for the first time, and said that the Missionaries were perfectly safe in visiting him, even although they had brought him no presents. When the Missionaries further stated that they had, in addition, some presents of tobacco, which they intended for him, he re- quested that they would not give them to him just then 3 '' for these people," said he, pointing to those without the waggons, '*' will ask it all away from me." The Missionaries next explained to the king how that they had come over the great water to his country in a wooden house, which the 1 B '2 282 Campbell's first journey wind took four moons in blowing so far j and that they had also undertaken this inland journey to see him, and to ask his permission for them to send men to teach his people various things which^ as yet, they knew not. To this, the king replied that he did not wish any such teachers, because his people had no time to attend to their instructions, having to mind their cattle, their sowing, and cultivation. The whole result, how- ever, of this conference was, the king's ultimately giving his consent to the settlement of Mission- aries among his people, and promising his pro- tection to such, whenever they should come. Before the arrival of this powerful king in his city, the Missionaries had been dreadfully an- noyed by the people crowding into their tents, and following them, wherever they went. Their constant and savage dances, and fearful shouting which they call singing, was a deafening vexa- tion, but the presence of his Bosheman Majesty, on his return, completely put a stop to those an- noyances. Passing over many details of this visit which we cannot notice, one reply of Mateebe is worthy of mention. When the Missionaries were reasoning with him about the book which IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 283 they brought for his instruction, and the God of their religion, he is reported to have said, " I believe there is a God who made all things ; who gives prosperity, sickness and death j but I do not know him 3" — a remarkable saying for a savage. The people of Lattakoo obtain copper and iron from some nation beyond them, but Mr. Camp- bell found that they studiously concealed where or from whom they got it. The Lattakoo peo- ple are very ingenious, manufacturing from these metals, viz. from the iron, axes, adzes, knives, spears, and bodkins ; and from the copper, rings for the legs, arms, fingers, and ears. They con- struct their houses also in a manner far superior to those of the natives near the Colony j and as for the art of habit making, their cloaks, he tells us, are made and sewed as well as could be done by Europeans. The city is divided into districts, each of which to the number of about fifty, is governed by a sort of magistrate, called a headman ; and a place near the centre is inclosed for public resort. The women here are the farmers, and dig the ground with a kind of pick-axe. They 284 Campbell's First journey all sing while at work, says Mr. Campbell, and strike the ground with their axes, according to time, so that no one gives a stroke more than another ; and thus they make labour an amuse- ment. They seem, he observes, in many re- spects to be a cleanly people, for no filth of any kind appears about their houses, nor indeed even in any part of this large town. The men are intelligent, but spend their life in savage idleness. The women here are per- fectly free, and appear on an equality with the men. The vice of thieving is almost unknown among this people 3 and when one young man was tempted to pilfer two buttons off the trowsers of the Missionaries' interpreter, the noise the people made in charging one another with the theft, was as deafening as the affray that it caused was ludicrous. " And had it been," says Mr. Campbell, " the great seal of England that had been stolen, in place of two metal buttons not worth a half-penny, there could not have been a greater disturbance made upon the occasion." AVhen the thief was discovered, he was driven forth out of the square, with all possible dishonour, amid a crowd of approving people. IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 285 At their large dancing parties, with which they constantly disturbed the Missionaries, the people were painted and dressed in the most fantastic manner. Some of the dancing-girls had one side of their faces painted black, and the other white 3 others had the upper part of the face coloured white, and the under black 3 which, with the straw ropes, reeds, fur-cloaks and other articles which they wore, made them look often frightful. Clever and tractable as these people are, and even free as they seem to be of any cruel customs, such as are often practised among savage nations,they seemed to our traveller, to have no idea of sympathy or generosity, such as barbarians often evince. Mr. Campbell found a wretched starving child, which had been de- serted by its parents, who were poor ; and who was weeping- in the midst of the public square for want of food. The people around, told him of the destitution of the child, but seemed to witness its famishing state, and to hear its cries without emotion. The humane Missionaries brought the child (it was about eight years old) to their waggons, and gave it some food, which it devoured with the eagerness of a young tiger. 286 CAMPliliLL's FIRST JOURNEY Though cleanly about their houses, these people are by no means nice in regard to their food ; eating the flesh of elephants, lions, tigers, canieleopards, quachas, &c., with good relish. At a dinner of the king's, his distinction was to sit next the pot that contained a mess of boiled beans, and to possess the only spoon that ap- peared to belong to the estabhshment -, with which he helped himself, and also those around him, by putting a spoonful into each of the hands that were held out for the food. While this was going on, his wives and the other women of his family, were chopping up, and putting pieces of flesh into another pot -, and cooking it over a fire. On one occasion, while the Missionaries were at dinner in their own tent, some of the native chiefs and their wives being present, one of them seeing Mr. Read help himself to a littly cayenne pepper, its red colour attracted his attention, and he asked for some of it. On getting the cayenne, he instantly threw a quantity of it on his tongue, but on feeling its pungency, he shut his eyes, clapped his hand upon his mouth, and holding down his head, endeavoured manfully to conceal IN SOUTIIERX .AFRICA. 287 the pain. When he was able to look up, he slily touched Mr. Read with his foot, to intimate that he should say nothing, but give the same dose to the others present. Another chief next got some, who also instantly felt its power ; but understanding the joke, as soon as he was able to speak, he asked for some for his wife ; and thus it went round, to the great diversion of all after- wards. We have known the same trick played upon each other by the stern chiefs of the North American Indians, with mustard ; of which each took a spoonful, when dining at a white man's table ; but though the pungent condiment caused the big tears to roll down their black cheeks, they scorned to show that they felt pain, until it had gone round ; and then they smiled at each other with taciturn gravity. 288 Campbell's first journf.y CHAPTER IV. Depai-ture from Lattakoo, and arrival at several Rivers— Enchant- ing Scenery— Return to Griquatown— Arrival at Hardcastle— The Asbestos Mountains— Journey across the Continent by the Banks of the Orange River, and Description of the Country— Arrival at PeUa — Return to the Cape. Leaving Lattakoo, on the 7th of July, the tra- vellers proceeded eastward for several days -, met with one or two kraals of wretched looking natives 3 crossed a small river, which they named Arrowsmith's River j and travelling at the foot of a range of mountains on their left, which they named Wilberforce Mountains, came at length within sight of the Malalareen River. This is, in fact, the first portion or highest branch of the Great Orange River, which, rising in these mountains, crosses in a westernly direction, as before mentioned, the whole African continent, from this point to the Atlantic. IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 289 Here they found again a charming country, and at a kraal of natives which they fell in with, the people, particularly the women, never having seen white m€n before, were terrified beyond description at the sight of them. On the first approach of the Missionaries, the poor Boshemen drew themselves up in battle array, and prepared for an attack, jumping wildly into the air, and brandishing their weapons, to endeavour to inti- midate the strangers whom they thought their enemies. When, by signs, they were at length made to understand that the Missionaries were friends^ they laid aside their bows and poisoned arrows ; but the women fled to their huts. No- thing could exceed the astonishment and terror with which these people were, seized, when at length they got a view of Mr. Campbell's watch. TraveUing to the south-west, along the banks of the Malalareen, which does not take the name of the Great River, until its junction with another, called the Yellow River, above 100 miles from its source, Mr. Campbell says, that about the confluence of these two rivers is one of the most charming spots on earth. The Yellow River alone is considerably larger than the Thames, a 2 c 290 Campbell's first journey little above London, and thus the Great River, at its proper commencement, is of an exceedingly respectable breadth. The high banks of these delightful streams were here, as well as below at another junction, crowned and ornamented with lofty trees ; and the plains beyond were rich and extensive, almost resembling an English park. This beautiful scenery was probably never before seen by any European eye. Proceeding further, a little inland from the banks of this river, Mr. Campbell found salt- petre so abundant, that the ground was covered with it, as with snow, half an inch deep. In this part of Africa, he says, there are every where to be found, inexhaustible magazines of materials for rearing great cities, especially stone, lime, and slate ; and all this with the convenience of a fine river, which may almost be called navi- gable. Returning close to the river, on a delight- ful day, the thermometer at 70°, he observed small parties of cattle, sheep, and goats, occa- sionally wandering down to drink of the clear wide stream, which, to quote his words, " glided silently along, as if afraid to interrupt our dis- course : the banks were ornamented with trees. IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 291 decked in green and yellow. The whole scene," he adds, with much simplicity, " appeared charm- ing and enchanting, far surpassing the heaven described by Mahomet." On the 26th. of the same month, July, the travellers again arrived at the station of Griqua- town, or Klaar Water, which they had formerly passed J and on the 11th of August came to another Missionary settlement, called Hardcastle, which is situated in a beautiful valley, at the foot of a range, named the Asbestos mountains. Here, between the strata of the rocks, is found abund- ance of that rare mineral, which has the quality of becoming soft as cotton by a little beating -, and when woven into cloth, of which also it is capable, resists the action of fire, and was on this account used by antient nations in the burning of their dead. This remarkable substance our tra- vellers found here not only in great quantities, but in a considerable variety of colours. The easiest softened was of the colour of Prussian blue 3 that which was less pliable was of a gold colour J other portions found were white, brown, and green. It is strange that this peculiar mineral is not more sought after by modern Europeans 3 and not less curious that, from the ignorant Gri- 292 Campbell's FIRST JOURNEY quas it should have received a name signifying handkerchief stone.* Here there is plenty of stone, which is natu- rally finely shaped for building, and of which the neighbouring mountains appear to be chiefly composed. This stone is probably metallic, for it sounds like bell-metal, on two pieces, being struck together > and is of a yellow colour. Pro- ceeding farther westward, after leaving this settle- ment, the Missionaries again found it necessary to cross the Great River, at a spot many leagues lower than where they had before effected that feat. Here, Mr. Campbell says, the stream is about 300 yards in breadth, and with great diffi- culty they accomplished the crossing of it, in about three hours time. From this point they travelled almost due west, over an immense tract of country, generally following the course of the river. Almost every * How the asbestos is spun and woven is not well known to Europeans, but according to the Philosophical Transac- tions, it is still in use by the princes of Tartary in the burning of their dead. The ancient Brahmins are said even to have made clothes of it, and to have used it at least, for their perpetual lamps. IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 293 variety of scenery, of course met their view by turns J and the heat, as they proceeded, became very oppressive. Huge mountains, in small groups, or low, and broken chains, they encoun- tered in every variety of form and appearance. At some places the mountains rose up, steep and bare, from the banks of the confined river. At others they ran in one dark chain, many leagues, on one hand, and so steep and uniform in shape, as to give the Missionaries the idea of the great wall of China. In the course of their journey, they found on a plain, an assemblage of rocks, so extensive, closely congregated, and lofty, (some of them being 500 feet in height,) that the travellers thought if the whole were named the metropolis of rocks, it would be giving this singular group an appropriate appellation. The prevailing character of this inland scenery, however, was that of a succession of dreary wastes, here and there relieved by scenes of great beauty, and prospects stupendous and interesting. Many of the plains appeared of endless extent, and the view of their lonely barrenness communi- cated sadness to the heart, and a disagreeable monotony to the eye, of the weary and thirsty '^94 CAMPBELLS FIRST JOURNEY traveller. In these deserts, animals became now as scarce as men, not a living inhabitant being Visible 3 and the tired oxen, as they plodded heavily on, often groaned from fatigue, and for the want of grass and of water. In some places, however, where the larger animals were seldom to be seen, the lizard and the field mouse were found among the rocks iu great num- bers. The curiosity of the travellers was excited to know how these little creatures could live in a country from which want of water had banished every other living thing. They found, on enquiry, that by the benecfient provision of nature, certain bulbous plants, and water berries, were made to grow in abundance even in this dry and parched land, by which these little animals easily quenched their thirst. Mr. Campbell observed these little field mice rolling into their holes a species of large berry, out of one of which he obtained about three tea spoonfuls of clear water, as easily as men would do a cask of liquor. Coming to a scanty kraal of natives in the Na- man([ua country, they found some very old people, who had never even heard of the sea, and could form little notion of the great world of waters. In IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 295 one place, a small party of wild Boshemen, having watched their opportunity, shot one of the most experienced of the ox drivers with their poisoned arrows 3 but fled before they thought fit to attempt any further depredation. The Missionaries did all they could to relieve the wounded man, who patiently submitted to have the piece round the wound cut out 3 and when he felt the poison taking eflfect in his face, he even requested them to cut away his cheek, which they declined to do, as they saw what must be the inevitable result. The blood evidently carries this subtle poison in the circulation ; for the poor man intimated that he found it going down to his toes. Though lauda- num and other drugs were given to him, and every convenient means usedj the natives, his companions, said he would die as soon as the sun was down. Scarcely had it sunk five minutes below the horizon, before this strong young man expired. On the 12th of September, our travellers having now crossed nearly the whole African continent, in latitude 29° south, arrived at a Missionary station, called Pella, within a few leagues of the Southern Atlantic, or Ethiopic Ocean ; this 296 Campbell's first journey being the most western point to which they meant to proceed. Pella is a small Missionary station, situated in a romantic nook, near the banks of the Orange River; but vegetation here does not flourish, and the gardens of the Mission- aries and others, were found to be in an unpros- perous state. Of the state of the mission at Pella, Mr. Campbell gives no account. Leaving this spot, and proceeding direct south, the travellers, in a few days, again entered the colonial district, and soon after, coming to a lofty range of hills, obtained, once more, a sight of the Atlantic Ocean. The Dutch settlers entertained them well, when they arrived amongst them ; and seemed, in general, to be in prosperous circumstances. Proceeding onwards, the travel- lers arrived in safety at the Cape, on the 31st of October, having now been absent nearly nine months ; and were received with all respect and welcome by their friends. \ IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. REV. JOHN CAMPBELL. SECOND JOURNEY INTO THE INTERIOR OF AFRICA. CHAPTER I. Departure from the Cape, and journey to Lattakoo — General scenery of the Tammaha country, and arrival at sundry towns — Interview with the inhabitants of Meribohwhey— Astonishment of the Chiefs at the sight of sundry European articles— Further Travels, and description of the country— Arrival at Mashow — Conference with King, &c.— Departure tow^ards the North. The intelligence brought from the interior of Southern Africa by Mr. Campbell, on his return to England, after his first journey, was found so 298 Campbell's skcond journey satisfactory, and the account of his travels so interesting to the supporters of Missions, that in a few years afterwards it was determined that he should go out again, in order, if possible, to pene- trate still farther into the interior, and to reach other nations, of which he had only heard, who inhabited the regions to the north of those he had formerly visited. Leaving England again, at the latter end of the year 1818, accompanied by Dr. Philip, it was not until the 18th of January, 1820, that he was ready to proceed upon his long journey -, pre- vious to which, his companion visited several of the stations along the eastern coast of the colony. Leaving behind him Dr. Philip, he was now accompanied by a Mr. Moffat and his wife, and being well provided with oxen and neces- saries for his travels, he took his departure ; but instead of proceeding, in the first instance, along the coast as formerly, he took a direction nearly north, and soon crossed the colonial territory, and journied on through the Boshemen's country towards the Great Orange River. Crossing that stream, on the 11th of March, the travellers arrived at Griqua town on the 13th, IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. '299 and next day there was nearly a total eclipse of the sun, so that the planet Venus was perfectly visible for upwards of an hour. About the 20th they reached Lattakoo, where, by this time, were settled several Missionaries, who had good houses, gardens, and corn fields, and had made some progress in instructing the natives. Their pur- pose being to penetrate farther, as before ob- served, the travellers went onwards through an agreeable undulating country, much better wa- tered,— chiefly by small lakes scattered over the face of it, and by the frequent rains falling here, - than any they had passed through since leaving the colony. Mr. Campbell observes, that during the whole of his journey from the Cape to Lattakoo, he found little vegetation, excepting near the banks of rivers, the face of the country being generally bare, excepting on such spots ; but here, in about the ^O'th and 27 th degrees of south latitude, there was a fine thinly wooded country, the trees scat- tering and congregating in groups of park-like and picturesque wildness. He had, however, men- tioned before, that as he proceeded, he found some tracts, not very near rivers, where the grass 300 camprell's second journey reached to the breasts of his oxen. Here also, long grass grew every where among the trees ; and, though on the verge of winter in this part of Africa, the heat, and the scenery round him, he says, reminded him much of summer, in some of the fertile counties in England. Further on, the trees around the travellers decreased into bushes,^ — the distant hills seemed to melt away gradually on every side, the leaves of the low bushes became the colour of verdigrise, and they altogether resembled stunted willows. Yet did the foliage of these bushy trees send forth an agreeable smell ; and the timber under the bark was of the colpur of mahogany. Extensive plains, which seemed endless to the view, and *' as level as the ocean," covered with grass, and bearing a few bushes, thinly scattered over them, became now the general characteristics of the country. At one place they came to a lake, or marsh of salt water, about six miles in circumference, in which they saw hundreds of the long legged bird, called the flamingo, standing high out of the water, which showed it to be very shallow. Soft lime- stone was found in plenty here, as well as a blue IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 301 sort of stone, fit for building, or for splitting into slates. Here, thunder and lightning was so common, without any thing like a storm, that when the tra- vellers halted with their waggons in the evening, they thought the night dull when not illuminated by the hghtning's flash. A wood of long-thorned mimosas now succeeded to the tiresome plains, as they approached the Tammaha country j and as they travelled through it, they came to an extensive lake, or swamp, much overgrown with reeds and rushes. The next species of country they came to, resembled an English common, having corn-fields and cattle in the distance, by which the travellers perceived they were near to a town J and soon numbers of women and chil- dren were observed running across the fields to get a sight of their waggons. The town that they were approaching in this Tammaha country, is named Meribohwhey, and on the travellers' waggons drawing near to it, a great number of the inhabitants, clad in skins painted red, which gave thera a frightful appear- ance, rushed forth from their houses, armed with spears, battle-axes, and long sticks. Though •2 D 302 Campbell's SECOND jouhney thus armed, and terrific in their looks, they had no unfriendly intentions, and after saluting the strangers, led them into an inclosure within their town. This is the chief town of the Tammaha people, but there are several others near. It does not contain, however, more than six or seven hundred inhabitants, and is situated con- siderably east from the central part of this con- tinent, and between the 25th and 26th degrees of south latitude. The travellers had not been many minutes in the place, before above five hun- dred persons, of all ages, had assembled and placed themselves in rows opposite their wag- gons. Those in the front rows sat upon the ground, and those in the rear, stood, that all might have a distinct view of the strange white men and their moving houses or waggons. Mr. Campbell stood forth before the people for about half an hour to gratify their curiosity ; but when he approached near, the children who were among the front rows, rose and fled in terror. On his road, Mr. Campbell had induced a smart little native girl, called Tattenyena, to accom- pany him into this country, and now taking her IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 303 by tlie hand he led her forward. The people seeing him thus familiar with one wearing their own sort of dress, and of the same national appear- ance, were at length emboldened to return to their places j and even allowed him to touch each of their heads when he came up to them ; but the gravity of their countenance upon this experi- ment, he says, indicated not a little perturbation still passing within. Next day the Missionaries received the princi- pal men of the place in their tent ; — he who was called the king was an old man, much blacker in colour than the others, and with a venerable white beard. He spoke in a tone of decision, and like a man who, if he threatened, would certainly execute his threat. He complained of some of the neighbouring tribes who had stolen his cattle, and done various injuries to his people, but said, in answer to the Missionaries, that he was desirous that white men teachers should come and live beside him. Mr. Campbell made him a present of a looking-glass, but he viewed himself long in it without shewing any signs of emotion, as other natives had done on similar occasions. On receiving a pair of scissars, this old chief 304 Campbell's second journey could not understand the use of them, untij the Missionary by his own consent chpped off part of his beard. Needles, pins, thimbles, and pin- cushions, seemed to him equally useless, until their utility was explained to him ; and he was obliged twice to be shewn how to open a snufF-box and a clasp knife. The looking glass was handed round, that all might see it j but the greatest diversion was afforded by a gimlet, which excited the amazement of the people, when they saw how quickly it was made to bore a hole through a stick. On their entering the tent of the Missionaries while they were at meat, the use the English- men made of their knives and forks gave this people much diversion j and the half boots, made of leather, which Mr. Campbell had put on, as the weather was rainy, were often examined and much criticised by the wondering natives. At another place the people, on examining closely into the dresses of the Missionaries, and particularly the cotton gown of Mrs. Moffat, who had accom- panied them all this time, said, they could believe that the coats of the men had been made from the wool which grew upon the sheep's back ; but as IN SOUTIIF.RN AFRICA. 305 for the lady's dress having once grown upon a bush, this was rather too much for their credulity. They asked of what aniaiaVs skin the tent was made, — this was also explained to them ; but of all the things they saw belonging to the strangers, they were most charmed with red handkerchiefs having white spots. The old king, though one of the most amiable as well as the wisest of his countrymen, was exceedingly covet- ous upon seeing these European articles j and the Missionaries having presented him with a white nightcap, he put it upon his black head, and wore it till the meeting broke up. This piece of dress gave him a very singular and ludicrous ap- pearance. On another occasion Mr. Campbell presented the young king of the Marootzee people, a nation considerably farther into the interior, with a common sailor's red night-cap, of which he was more proud than of any other article of his dress, and wore it at the wars, and on all public occasions with great eclat. On his former visit to Lattakoo, Mr. Campbell gave the king two white neckcloths, both of which the black monarch wrapped round his head, and wore 2 d2 306 Campbell's second journey until their original colour was entirely lost in the red paint with which his skin was smeared. After being kindly treated by this people, the Missionaries left them and proceeded still north- ward. Passing through extensive fields of Caffre corn, their way led them to the summit of a low hill beautifully decked with the long thorned mimosa, the most common tree in this part of Africa. From this hill they had an extensive view of the country, which is described as the most beautiful, perhaps, which our travellers had yet seen. An extensive valley lay before them, which was covered with rich pasture, and beau- tifully interspersed with verdant trees. The herdsmen of the people of the neighbouring na- tive villages, who watched by the cattle as they grazed in the valley, while the waggons of the Mis- sionaries passed through it, came often running towards them to gratify their curiosity. On reach- ing the farther side of the valley, the travellers had to walk up a gentle ascent, between a range of beautiful hills, which were adorned to the summits by several sorts of flourishing trees. On the hills in this part of the country the trees IN SOUTH r.RN AFRICA. 307 were of various sorts, but seldom more than one kind was to be found in the vallies. On reaching the summit, another valley of similar beauty presented itself to their view^ which seemed to be about five miles broad, and was bounded by another range of pic- turesque hills, answering to the description of those they had just crossed. On reaching the next valley, numbers of birds with the splendid plumage common in Africa, flew through the grove?, or sported among the branches ; and the travellers listened with delight to the song of one, whose notes resembled those of the English black- bird. This latter circumstance seemed to them the more remarkable, as few songsters are heard among all the variety of the feathered tribes on the African continent. Although the season for flowers in these latitudes had not yet arrived, almost every bush sent forth an aromatic odour ; and here the travellers found among a number of trees on the hills, which they could not name, a species of the mimosa, which, it being now the season of seed, bore long pods of a dark purple colour. 308 Campbell's second journey Here the travellers found, also, the holly hock so common in England, the flower of which was yellow j and here the sugar cane also grew wild and in great plenty. The natives called this latter the sweet cane, and used it commonly as a luxury, but knew not the art of making sugar. A wild plumb tree was, besides, found here, and an ever- green loaded with a green cherry-shaped berry. Though it was now the first week of winter in this quarter, namely, the beginning of May, the state of the grass and the lively foliage of the trees, made it resemble the first week of summer in England. Farther on, through the beautiful region, the general appearance of the landscape much resembled Welch scenery, though all its details, — that is, the trees, bushes, birds, and in- sects, were totally different. Some of the trees were of the palm kind, others resembled the orange and peach trees known in Europe; the latter of which, having the peach leaf, is the state- liest tree of these woods, and bears so much of a fine fruit, as, in its season, to cause the neighbour- ing towns to be almost emptied of their inhabi- tants, who take up their residence in the moun- IN SOUTIIRRN AFRICA. 309 tains for the purpose of gathering it. Another species of tree in those woods, has an appearance as if the whole were sprinkled over with flour. Ascending the range of hills, which bounded the valley to the north, before them, which they did by a pass exceedingly rocky and rugged, the Missionary had a view of part of what he calls " the city" of Mashow. This city stood on an eminence, which, unlike the other hills near, was destitute of tree or bush, but covered with cornfields. The inhabitants of this part of Africa, build their towns on an elevated situation, in order, as appears probable, that enemies may not easily approach them unseen j for, fertile and pleasant as this country is, its va- rious nations, though scarcely in a state of actual warfare, are continually on the watch to commit depredations on each other, — that is, to attack and carry off each other's cattle. All the Mission- aries shortly after began to ascend the eminence on which the city stood ; the people soon began to pour forth in crowds to meet them, and saluted them after their manner as they drew near. On getting into the place, the travellers were guided into an inclosure opposite the king's house ) but 310 Campbell's second journey no lodging was offered them, that not being the custom of these nations towards their visitors. In this inclosure, to which strangers are usually con- ducted, they found the king and principal men of the place already assembled, and seated in rows, waiting for them. The king, whose name was Rossie, Mr. Campbell had, on his former journey, seen at Lattakoo, and now looked upon him as an old friend. He and his uncle, who was also known to the travellers j having sat and looked at them for a few minutes, both rose, and shook hands with them with much warmth of manner. The square, in which were the Missionaries and their waggons, was soon after this filled with men, women, and children, who, while gratifying their own curiosity, made a dreadful uproar. When the tent was erected (which the people called a grand house,) and the Missionaries were preparing to sit down to dinner, all the crowd immediately retired^ and did not return until the strangers had dined, which Mr. Camp- bell considered extremely polite conduct of these savages. On the following day, hovvever, the king and a chief entered the tent, during the time the Missionaries were at their meal, in order to gratify IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 311 their curiosity J and the chief kneeling, with his head over the table, examined the utensils and eatables with great minuteness. Both these natives seemed to have been acquainted with salt, but had never before seen either pepper or potatoes ^ and when the king was informed that the cheese was made of milk hardened, he would not be- lieve it. On a conference of ceremony with these dignitaries, and other chief men, the Mission- aries made them the usual proposal to send teachers aud preachers to instruct the people. A previous enquiry having been formerly made of some who had accompanied them, whether the Missionaries intended to interfere in the govern- ment of their country 3 and on the negative being satisfactorily ascertained, an elderly captain made a long speech to the council in favour of the proposition. During the deliberation, another exceedingly tall and venerable looking chief joined this assembly. Every eye was at once directed to him, to ascertain his opinion upon this important subject. That opinion he deh- vered, says Mr. Campbell, in a very becoming 312 Campbell's second journey manner, saying that it would be well foi- their nation to have such men as the Missionaries to live amongst them, and he thought that they ought at once to accept of the offer now made. This speech was definitive, and a general assent being how given to the proposal, this African council immediately broke up. On surveying the city and neighbourhood, Mr. Campbell found it to consist of a great number of villages, or districts, situated near each other, amounting to not less than thirty, besides outposts for cattle. The corn fields attached to these villages, occupied a circum- ference of at least twenty miles ; and the whole population of the united districts might probably amount to ten or twelve thousand. To the south-east of this populous place, he was in- formed there lay an extensive lake, said to be about thirty miles m length. The people in this territory, on meeting with the Missionaries as they walked, requested them to stop and allow them to look at them. The dress of the English- men was an object of great curiosity to the natives, and they were particularly diverted on IN SOUTIIEriN AFRICA. 313 observing that their hair was not woolly like their own, but straight like that of their native sheep. The Missionaries, who, upon the whole, seemed to be considered by these simple people as beings of a superior rank, having now effected their chief object in visiting Mashow, took their leave, and proceeded to journey on, further northward. 2 E 314 Campbell's second journky CHAPTER II. Further Description of the Taramaha Country — the Travellers meet with a number of Rivers and small Lakes — Description of the Company that follovred them— Character of the Hottentots, &c. — Uproarious Manners of the People on some occasions — Appear- ance of the whole Caravan — Approach to Kureechane — Arrival and Reception there. Besides its fertility, and romantic beauty, this delightful country, through which the travellers now passed, they having soon left Mashow far behind, was well watered by many crossing streams 3 some of which were of such depth and breadth as to make the fording of them a matter of difficulty. At one place they came to a refreshing fountain, gushing out from the gentle declivity of a low hill, among tall grass, which they named Philip Fountain. This cool stream, meandering from among loose rocks, which were completely shaded from the rays of the sun by a IN SOUTHEKX AFRICA. 315 clump of thick evergreen trees, flows eastwards, and becomes the source of a large river, which probably at last empties itself into the Indian ocean, on the Mosambique shore. Another stream, running easterly, took its rise from a lake of fine water, which the Missionaries also came to, on their route, and in which they saw reeds growing eight or nine feet high. Be- sides these rivers, there were others, whose course lay east and west j to which the natives had given names that European mouths would not find it easy to pronounce. Sometimes the road over which the traveller's waggons had to pass, con- sisted of rocky ground, full of iron stones, that in some places formed a pavement : while in others it jutted up so as to be both uneasy for the vehicles and the oxen. The former were in danger of being dashed to pieces. Still, the general face of the country was fertile and romantic j immense fields of Caffre corn surrounded the villages in this comparatively populous country j yet millions of acres of rich land remained only to be claimed, and would require but little cultivation either from the industrious European or the lazy savage. In all their journey through this quarter, the 316 camtbell's second journey Missionaries were followed l)y a motley company of Hottentots, Curannas, and Boshemen j with occasional escorts from parties of the people of the Tammaha country ; whose various manners and ideas often gave high entertainment to the white travellers. Mr. Campbell's experience of the Hottentot people by no means confirmed that degrading character, as to their disposition and capacity, to which they have been proverbially subjected, through the ignorance of Europeans. He found them, in general, not inferior in any respect to the peasantry of England. Although naturally indolent, their capacities were good, and as servants, they were both industrious and faith- ful ; so much so, that he would sooner have trusted himself with them on a long journey through a wild country, than with the same num- ber of labouring peasants from the enlightened nations of the British islands. As for the Curannas, they were, for savages, not unamiable, but cowardly ; and the Boshemen, in general, are not possessed of the ferocious character usually attached to them in Europe, excepting those wandering tribes properly deno- minated Wild Boshemen, who live by constant IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 317 plunder, war, and aggression. The manners of this people, who followed the Missionaries, were sometimes strange and amusing. Hearing one night after they had haUed, a dreadful uproar among his people without, with a jabber of tongues that betokened an immediate and gene- ral quarrel, the simple Missionary ran out in alarm to see what all this noise was about, and, if possible, to prevent the intended fight. On enquiring the reason of the uproar, he could scarcely find one who was cool enough to inform him ; but at length was answered by a bystander with great indifference, that they were merely disputing about the road that they should take in the morning. At another time, during their journey, after leaving the town of Mashow, when they were followed by four different parties, their company now amounting to nearly ninety per- sons, one man brought intelligence that he had shot a rhinoceros. When the waggons drew near to where the animal lay, Mr. Campbell was astonished at its enormous bulk, while his people were delighted at the idea of cutting up such a mountain of flesh. Its body measured eleven feet in length, was four feet thick, and about eleven ^2 E 2 318 Campbell's second journey feet in circumference The length of the four legs was only two feet, but they were three feet in thickness at the upper part. The skin was about an inch thick, its colour a dark brown, resem- bling tanned leather, and quite smooth, and with- out hair. The sight of so huge a carcase to eat, says Mr. Campbell, " delighted the natives who were with us. The four different parties who tra- velled in our company, began instantly to cut it up, each party carrying portions to their own heap as fast as they could. Some being more expeditious than others, excited jealousy, and soon caused a frightful uproar. Perhaps twenty tongues were bawling out at one time, any one of which by itself, seemed sufficient to deafen an ox. Not a word was spoken in jest — all were deeply serious. Some severe strokes with sticks were, in the course of the affair, dealt among ihem by the leaders of the parties;" in short, there was altogether a hideous confusion, an eager bustle, and a savage uproar. In less than an hour, every inch of the monstrous animal was carried off by the different groups, who were now preparing to cook it, and in a little time 1\ SOUTHERN AFIIICA. 319 after, not less than fifteen fires were kindled, around each of which sat little companies, says the Missionary, " roasting, boiling, and devour- ing flesh with disgusting voraciousness," This description seems chiefly applicable to the people of the Marootzee and Tammaha nations, through which the Missionaries were now tra- velling, and whom they describe as without sym- pathy in their dispositions, or any feehng to cause them to take an interest for each other's happi- ness. They are in general, indeed, savagely selfish, though not, as it appears, without some sense of justice. On the same evening, after the people had eat np the rhinoceros, ]Mr. Camp- bjll, on visiting one of the fires, found a com- pany of the Marootzees eating boiled Caffre corn out of a wooden dish. Their leader, or captain, held the dish in one hand, and with a wooden spoon which he held in the other, helped himself j while the others, without ceremony, dipped their hands in the dish, and taking out quantities of the boiled corn in this manner, swallowed it as fast as they could. Mr. Campbell had the courage to taste a little of this cleanly mess and says he found it very good. 320 Campbell's second journey Here, as his followers had done on some other occasions during his former journey, the people, the same night, set to work, and erected temporary dwellings, with roofs made from large branches of the mimosa. The thick ends of these branches were stuck into the ground, and those on both sides bent until they met and formed a roof. The tops of these branches being overlaid by the bark of trees, the smaller branches twisted into each other, and the whole closed at the wind- ward side, and thatched with reeds, made a hovel which the natives thought exceedingly comfort- able. Besides taking all this trouble for one night's lodging, the natives formed an enclosure by means of large branches, for securing their pack oxen from wandering, as well as to protect them from the attacks of lions. Their road, about this time, lying over a plain without trees, the Missionaries had now a good view of their whole caravan, such as they could seldom obtain. Their own company occupied three waggons with the necessary oxen. Forty- live other loaded pack oxen travelling in a line, occupied also a considerable space, besides the sheep, and the women and children. Their mot- IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 321 ley company of followers consisted of Hottentots, Matchappees> Tamniahas, Mashows, and Maroot- zees, the men carrying assagais (spears), and the women, either their children or some other slight burden on their backs, shoulders, or heads j and all those several tribes exhibiting something diflferent in their persons, dress, or implements. This travelling caravan extended about a mile in length. About the beginning of May the travellers, on ascending a height, observed before them, in the valley below, cornfields, extending farther than they could see ; and soon after, part of the long- desired city of Kureechane, capital of the Maroot- zee nation, was seen, situated on the top of one of the highest hills in this part of Africa. When they reached the corn-fields in the valley, parties of men and women hastened, as usual, towards the waggons from every quarter. They gazed as they came up, as if what they now, for the first time, saw, was considered by them as belonging to another world. The men drew near, but the women kept at some distance. Some of the boldest at length ventured closer, but the least sound of the drivers' whips, as they cracked them 322 Campbell's second journey over the oxen, made them run as if chased by lions. The people, as the waggons drew near to the town, came pouring, as Mr. Campbell expresses it, like streams towards them, and the whole plain under the hill on which Kureechane stood, was soon covered with the natives. As they wound round the hill, which their waggons could not ascend in front, the people so pressed round to get a sight of the Missionaries, that the eager curiosity of such a crowd became no small annoy- ance. When the travellers entered the town, and were passing through among the houses, the noise around them seemed perfectly tumultuous. The sight of white men threw many of the natives into convulsions of laughter, while the young people screamed out in terror as the Mis- sionaries came in view, and fled at once to the nearest place of concealment. Their conductor now led the travellers through a gate into an extensive inclosure, surrounded by a stone wall. Having placed their waggons so as to make three sides of a small square, as usual, meaning to erect their tent in the centre, they had to stand above an hour, suffering the IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 3'23 press and curiosity of the natives, before they could get any of their own matters attended to. Having two horses with them, the animals were regarded with as much curiosity as a pair of elephants would be if seen walking in the streets of London. Here the Missionaries, on enquiring for the king, to whom they wished to state the object of their visit, learned that he was a minor, and that, in the mean time, the nation was governed by a regent. To the king's brother, and other chief men, who by this time were near, Mr. Campbell now expressed his wish to the above effect. Their answer to his request was, that what the strangers had to communicate must, according to the customs of their nation, be stated at a public meeting, in order that all might hear and deliberate upon the business. Such meeting, therefore, was shortly after ap- pointed, and the Missionaries, in the meantime, prepared for their own domestic comfort, and to take some repose after their toilsome journey. 324 Campbell's second journey CHAPTER III. Description of a great Meeting of the Captains and other Chiefs — Dress and general Appearance— Speeches and Sentiments- Sketch of the City and form of the Houses — Population — State of the Arts— Manufactures— Natural wealth of the Country- Customs of the Country — Rain Malcers— Wars, and disposition cf the People — Departure of the Missionaries and return to the Cape. On the lOth of May, not long after the arrival of the Missionary expedition in Kureechane, a grand assembly or general meeting of the native captains, which is there called a Peetso, was held in the great inclosure or public square of the place. Early in the morning as Mr. Campbell walked through the town, he observed numbers of men painting each others bodies with wet pipeclay, particularly their legs and thighs, preparatory to the meeting ; and the clay being of a French grey coloMr, gave those thus ornamented the appear- IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. !\25 ance of wearing pantaloons or long stockings. At the same hour there appeared parties of armed men, marching to the outer districts of the city to summon the captains to the meeting. About eleven, the Missionar}' tells us, com- panies of from twenty to thirty men began to arrive in the great inclosure where the waggons stood, marching two and two as well as any trained regiment. Most of them were armed with four assagais or spears, and had also battle axes, and shields made of the hide of an ox. On entering the gate these parties immediately began to exhibit their war manoeuvres in a terrific manner, now advancing, then retreating, and suddenly returning to the attack 3 sometimes, also, imitating the stab- bing of an enemy. The height of their leaps into the air was quite surprising. Each company, after performing- these evolutions, returned from the square and paraded through the streets. At length the regent entered the area at the head of a large party, who, after going through the evolutions, sat down towards the eastern corner of the square. Immediately upon this, the other companies followed and took their sta- tions in regular rows, with their faces towards 2 F 326 Campbell's si:cond journey the regent, who presided on the occasion -, the regent and his retinue facing the general com- pany, which was composed of between three and four hundred persons. The appearance of this meeting was altogether truly savage, and in the variety of its scenes and individual exhibitions, discovered a strange mix- ture of what was pleasing and graceful, with what was wild and almost frightful. The persons of the chiefs, as already observed, were painted with pipeclay, and their beads adorned with a sort of turban, made of the skin of the wild hog, that had a white and shining appearance, from the whole of the bristles being left on it, which resemble the whitest horse- hair. They wore cloaks of every colour and shape, being formed of the skins of a variety of animals — from the shining orange of the spotted tiger to the red or striped fur of the wild cat : or, more generally, the softened and scraped skin of the ox or cow, to the shaggy skin of the lion, or the dark coloured hide of the jackall. Long fringes of cats' and leopards' tails, streamed from these cloaks and tippets, which were worn, in some instances, to the number of eight or ten ; all which with i\ souTur.RN Ariiic.A. 327 beads and riiiii;s innumerable, besides their spears nnd axes, showed much finery, vanity, and bar- barity. The regent wore, for a breast plate, a very large lackered bed-nail cover, which Mr. Campbell had presented to him ; and the young king wore on his head, an English red night-cap tied round with a strip of gilt tinsel lace, which the Missionary thought looked extremely well amid so motley a company. The chief business for which this grand meeting- had assembled, was to consider the expediency of going to war with, or rather setting forth on a commando, or marauding expedition, against a neighbouring people called the Boquain nation ; whose situation from their city the first speaker in- dicated, by pointing his spear towards the north ; and the people of which, it appeared, had lately stolen some of their cattle. The business of the meeting was opened by the whole company, says Mr. Campbell, " joining in singing a song, after which a chief captain rose and commanded silence." Of the character or effect of this peculiar melody, we are unable from the Missionary's accounts to give any satisfactory description j but when, at its termination, silence had been ob- 3'28 Campbell's siicoND journey tained by the chief, he then, we are informed, "gave three howls," and resting on his spear, asked the other chiefs if they would hear him. To this proposition the meeting gave assent by a general *' hum." These howls were given at intervals, of about half a minute between each, and were of dif- ferent sorts, according to the different nations to which the speakers belonged j for at this assembly there were strangers from the Mat- chabees and other more southerly nations, who had travelled with the Missionaries, and now came to report concerning them. Sometimes they rather resembled yells or shrieks ; at others^ they were not unlike the barking of a young dog, and when thus differing from the standard howl of the people of Kurachane, they were highly diverting to the female spectators on the outside, who burst out occasionally into immo- derate fits of laughter. Between the speeches a song was usually sung j and on a new speaker getting up, after his preliminary yells or shrieks, it was not unusual for himself, or a few of his attendants, to step forward into the open space and dance a few minutes, exhibiting in the dance IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 3'29 their mode of attacking an enemy j after which the orator returned to his place and commenced his speech. The voices of the speakers at this meeting, which lasted four hours, were generally for war 3 yet strange to say, in alluding to the Mission- aries, and the purpose of their coming amongst them, the white strangers were praised, as men who loved peace and hated theft. This approv- ing sentiment and testimony in their favour, was delivered not only by an orator named Matube, who, having travelled with them from Lattakoo, spoke of the mutual benefit of peace, and a friendly intercourse between the two na- tions ; but the regent of the Marootzee people himself followed on the same side, and while he shewed a just sense of the propriety of a marauding expedition to recover their stolen cattle, stated, that although he feared not his enemies, he had his reasons for not attacking them just at present. This chief seems to have been a sensible man of the world, who under- stood well the disposition of his nation. After hearing several highly applauded speeches from others, he addressed the meeting manfully, "You 2 F 2 330 Campbell's second journey come before me," said he, " powdered and dressed, and boast about commanders, but I believe you are unwilling to accompany them ; you can talk bravely before the women, but I know you too well to take you against those nations." Beads being the common circulating; medium among these people, like gold and silver coin in Europe, it had given much general dissatisfaction, upon the first arrival of the Missionaries, that they had brought none of this exchangeable coin, which rendered them unable to traffic with the chiefs and people as they had expected. The regent, gratuitously, on this occasion undertook to explain and defend the conduct of the Mis- sionaries J saying that after various conversa- tions with them, he had found them to be men who had not come among his people for purposes of trade, but to make known to them things con- cerning the true God ; and that they were good men, and loved peace. In short, on this occasion, as in their general conduct, sentiments, and manners, this people exhibited a singular mixture of barbarism and civilisation. None of the speakers seemed to have the smallest timidity, or to evince any IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 331 reluctance to express their sentiments with perfect freedom 3 which they did in general with much good sense and great fluency of utterance. Al- though they sang, and danced, and howled, and whistled like savages, when they began to ha- rangue, " the actions of most of the speakers," says Mr. Campbell, " were oratorical and grace- ful." The tones of their voices were musical and pleasing} and the sentiments they expressed were manly and appropriate. The city of Kurachane, the capital of the Marootzee country, is perhaps the largest of any in this populous part of Southern Africa. The Missionaries found it impossible to number the houses, but perceiving this to be at least four times the size of Lattakoo, they thought its population might amount to about sixteen thou- sand. Some approach to public buildings was found to exist here. Besides the king's houses, and the large square inclosure for their great meetings before mentioned, there was also a pub- lic inclosure, appropriated to the slaughtering of cattle 5 a convenience which was unknown in the other African towns which the Missionaries visited. In walking round the heights on which 332 Campbell's second journev Kurachane stands, accompanied by the regent, that chief told Mr. Campbell the names of more than twenty other nations which lay around, chiefly towards the north and south-east, many of whom, he said, had towns as large and populous as Kurachane. The people of this city seem more ingenious, and every way farther advanced in the knowledge of the arts, than those of the more southerly nations through which the Missionaries had passed. Their houses are circular, having low perpendicular walls, over which the roof rises like a point to the tops. Round their houses they have court yards, covered with smooth wrought clay, and inclosed by a wall or close paling. No regular streets are formed in the town, nor is it built upon any general plan. One day our traveller, in walking through it, lost his way in the labyrinth windings of its numerous crooked lanes. " In some of the houses," he says, "^ there were figures, pillars, &c., carved or moulded in hard clay, and painted with different colours, that would not have disgraced European workmen. We saw among them," he continues, " various vessels, formed of clay, painted of different co- IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 333 lours, and glazed, for holding water, milk, food, and a kind of beer made from corn. They had also pots of clay of all sizes, and very strong. Every part of their houses and yards is kept very clean. They smelt both iron and copper." A furnace for smelting iron is thus described : — " It was built of clay almost equal in hardness to stone. A round opening was left at the top for receiving the ore, and an excavation under- neath for holding the fire, which was open be- hind and before, not only for admitting the fuel, but also the wind from the bellows." The form of the bellows is not described. Visiting a blacksmith, the Missionaries found him making pick-axes. He was knocking away with a small iron hammer, having a wooden handle Hke those used in England 3 a hard flint- stone served for his anvil, his assistant duly working the bellows. Besides axes of various sorts, knives, awls, drill-bores, and other iron articles, the people here even make razors, suf- ficiently keen to shave their heads, which they do from superstition upon certain occasions. Their copper furnaces they would never show to the Missionaries : but besides rings and other 334 Campbell's second journey articles made of that nietal, they make knife- handles and whistles of ivory, various dishes and spoons of wood, baskets and bonnets of rushes, dresses of leather and pipes of stone. An expert English cutler could do wonders here, for he would get plenty of excellent iron to work with, and every knife he made, however ordinary, would be worth a sheep, and a rough made axe is worth an ox. Of knives, a good workman would make a considerable number in a day, and he would find plenty of customers, not only among the people of this place, but also among those of surrounding nations. Besides the extensive fields of corn, which are cultivated round the city, they grow tobacco in great quantities, both for their own con- sumption and as an article of trade. The sugar cane is also cultivated as an article of luxury, the natives chewing it as the blacks often do in the West Indies ; they have also beans, which they boil for food, and pumpkins which they bake, as well as other garden stuflFs used in their cookery. The Marootzee people greatly abound in cattle. " I witnessed," says Mr. Campbell, ** their herds returning in the evening to the IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 335 kraals or enclosures in the town. For two miles in one direction the road was covered with droves of cattle. The whistling of the men, when driv- ing their beasts, bore so strong a resemblance to the singing of birds, that in a morning, before I quitted my waggon, I could not distinguish the ditference between them." One remarkable feature in their customs is their resemblance, in two striking peculi- arities, to those of the ancient Jews or Arabs. They practice circumcision ; and their chief hears causes, and gives judgment at the gate of the city. The regent of Kurachane, a man of supe- rior mind, sat regularly at the gate, accompanied by a sort of secretary, to whom, in the first instance, the complaint was addressed. When the latter had repeated it to the judge, he gave his decision with little hesitation. Here also they practice vaccination, an art which the Mis- sionaries think they must have derived originally from the Portuguese, as in describing the nation from which they learned it, they pointed to the direction nearest the sea. There are a strange sort of men here called rain-makers, whose business it is, according to 336 Campbell's second journey the notions of the people, to make rain in times of drought. They are held in high estimation by all the Bootchuana tribes, but are seldom employed by the nation to which they belong, each nation preferring to employ one who lives at a distance from them. These men, with an inconsistency not unusual among more civilised nations, not only manage to deceive others regarding their power over the elements, but not unfrequently are dupes to themselves. Yet with the sagacity which refrains from the practice of the supernatural, until likely to be seconded by natural causes, the rain- maker, persuaded as he is of his own power, seldom ventures to begin the usual ceremonies for procuring rain, until he sees the clouds arising in the north-west, the quarter from which it generally comes -, of this fact, however, the unobservant natives are not in general aware. The next branch of the rain- maker's art is to keep up the expectations and faith of the people, after he has been a long time unsuccessful. This he manages by sending parties of the complaining natives to catch an owl alive, or a large baboon, and bring them to him 3 or on any other almost impossible attempt. IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 337 When they return, if they have not brought what he has sent them for, he pretends to be in a great rage — lays the blame of the rain being delayed upon themselves, and thus gains time, until the wislied-for clouds appear in the proper quarter. The wars of the Bootchuana nations are nothing more than irregular and infrequent skirmishes, of short duration, and generally undertaken in order to capture a quantity of cattle. No proper leader being appointed, and every man acting as he pleases, the one party or the other is soon struck with a panic and flies ; and here properly begins whatever slaughter there may chance to be, for not having any notion of taking prisoners, no quarter is given. In attacking a Bosheman kraal, to revenge robberies of cattle, the victors often kill men, women, and children. Another instance of the occasional cruelty of this people occurs in their unfeeling conduct to the aged and helpless, so general among uncivilised nations. The young they try to cure when sick, and bury in deep graves when they die, but the old and infirm being considered as useless beings, are univer- sally despised, and are in some cases abandoned 2 G 338 Campbell's second journey by their neighbours to starve -, while in others,they are even left to be devoured by the wild beasts. " Though the Matchappies," says Mr. Campbell, " treat the aged, and those that are very poor, like brutes, they are friendly to each other, affectionate to their children, and sincerely lament the death of relatives." It is observed by our Missionaries, as it has also been by many other travellers who have made themselves acquainted with uncivilised man in other parts, that madness is a disease unknown to the people living in this division of the African continent. Want of care, want of a ])rovident spirit, and perfect thoughtlessness regarding the future or the past, are peculiarities that at least accompany this remarkable exemption from one of the most dreadful maladies of human life. Intoxication seems also unknown to this people, their general beverage being water, and the beer that they drink, or the tobacco that they smoke, possessing but httle of the inebriating quality. Yet do they, upon the whole, appear to be in a comparatively wretched condition, although, upon this subject, or their real do- mestic situation, we have but little information IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. 339 from our Missionary travellers that can be called satisfactory. The mental capabilities of the Ma- root zee people, are certainly considerable, and their country is undoubtedly a land of plenty, and of great beauty ; yet in no other part of the world, perhaps, would the peculiar virtues and knowledge that ever accompany civilisation be a greater or a more unquestionable boon, than in the Bootchuan district, and to this people. Leaving Kurachane, about the end of May, our travellers having resolved to penetrate no farther to the north, made their way back by their former route, towards the town of Moshow, through which they had formerly passed. Tra- velling on through the Tammaha country they kept a little to the left until they came upon the sources of the Malalareen river, the course of which they followed some way, passing several villages which they found on their route. Cross- ing westerly again, they arrived at Lattakoo once more, and after, by a new route, coming upon more native towns, they made their way south to the Orange River. This they crossed more than 340 Campbell's second journey once, upon a branch, which they called Craddock River, and proceeding along the mountainous wilds of Snowberg, arrived, on the 13th of Sep- tember, at the original Dutch settlement of Graaf Rev net. On viewing the town, our Missionary was surprised to find it increased to nearly double the size that it was when he had visited it seven years before. The appearance of Graaf Reynet, at the present season, he describes as strikingly beautiful. The wide new streets were lined on each side by rows of lemon trees loaded with fruit, while multitudes of orange and other trees, in the same productive state, filled up the intervals between the houses. To this agreeable description of the externals of the place, he adds, that much good had been done in the instruction of the slaves and others, chiefly by the exertions of Mr. Faure, the minister of the district. Bidding adieu to this pretty town on the 27th of September, our travellers directed their course due west, and visiting one or two other of the colonial settlements on their way, after a very toilsome journey, arrived in Cape Town on the IN SOUTHERN AFRIC.\. 341 10th of November, 1825. Thus ended, without accident, a weary journey of ten months, during which Mr. Campbell certainly collected a great deal of interesting information, after having, to- gether with his companions, endured much of that toil and privation, which is the lot of tra- vellers who have the courage to explore an uncivilised country. 2 G 2 342 JOHN JliFFERSON AND OTHERS, IN JOHN JEFFERSON AND OTHERS, N THE GEORGIAN ISLANDS OF THE SOUTH SEA. CHAPTER I. Brief account of the Second Voyage of the Duff, and of her fate- Consternation caused in England by the event — Proceedings of Mr. Jefferson and the other Missionaries at Tahiti— Arrival of the Nautilus, and succeeding disasters — III treatment and jeopardy of Mr. Jefferson and his companions— Most of the Missionaries leave the island and sail to Port Jackson — Murder of Mr. Clode there— Murder of Mr. Lew^is in Tahiti — Infidelity of Mr. Broomhall. The account which Mr. Campbell, upon his re- turn to England, gave of such parts of Southern Africa as he had just travelled through, was found SO satisfactory, and so interesting to the support- ers of Missions, that it was ultimately determined by the London society to send hiin out upon a THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 343 second journey into that country, for the purpose of penetrating much farther north from the colony than he had yet done ; in order to pave the way for the establishing of Missionary sta- tions among the nations beyond Lattakoo, of which he had as yet only heard. It was not, however, until 1820, that this second journey was actually undertaken -, and though many of its details are still more interesting than those of the former ; and though much improvement has of late years been effected in this part of the heathen world, by means of the exertions of the Church, the London, and the Wesleyan societies, we are obliged for the present to omit all notice of these latter travels and reports, as well as of the journey of Dr. Philip, on the western coast of the same country, that we may return to the mission originally planted by the Duff in the South Sea. The events that have of late years been brought about by the instrumentality of the Missionaries, in these interesting islands, are so remarkable, and the changes effected so asto- nishing, considering the short space of time in which they have been effected, that justice to the subject we have taken up, demands that we devote to the history of that mission, and to 344 JOHN JEFFERSON AND OTHERS, IN the travels and researches of its more prominent labourers, all the attention which is compatible with our general purpose. Returning, therefore, to the Georgian Islands after the departure of the DuflF in ^797, we shall give a sketch of what occurred there from that period, until the arrival of the Missionary traveller, Mr. Ellis, in 1817 j beginning with a brief account of the second voyage of the Duff from England in 1798, to connect the several points of our history. The accounts brought to England by the Duff, of the great success of her first voyage to the South Sea, and the exceedingly promising state of the mission, so elated its friends and sup- porters at home, that no time was lost in prepar- ing to send out the ship a second time, with a large reinforcement of Missionary strength. The liberality with which individuals came forward to patronize this work, was at least creditable to their feelings ; and by the following Decem- ber, and within a few months after her arrival at home, the Duff was again ready for sea, having on board a cargo of every thing necessary, and twenty-nine additional Missionaries, ten of whom were married and took with them their fami- lies. THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 345 The DufiF was now comnumded by a Captain Robson^ and sailing- in the course of the same month, was soon far on her voyage towards Rio Janeiro. She had been out about two months, when one fine morning as they drew near to the coast of Brazil, a sail was dimly perceived on the horizon. Although it was then a time of war with France, this sight gave the Mission- aries no concern, as they little expected that any hostile ship would be likely to cruise in these latitudes. Paying no attention, therefore, the ship bore down towards them the same after- noon, but as there was little wind, it was even- ing before she came near to the Duff. The moon was now up and shone brightly over the sea. Slight squalls began to arise, but still those on board were ignorant where the strange ship could be from, and why she had followed them all day. Great indeed was the consternation of the Missionaries, when, opening a port, the vessel in chase began to fire upon them ; and having forced them to heave too, they soon ascertained that this strange ship was a French privateer, and that the Duff with all on board was already her prize. 346 JOHN jKiFEUsoN and others, in Their terror was now extreme, for a party of officers, boarding them from the French ship, and brandishing cutlasses over their heads, intimated that they must immediately go on board the Bonaparte, — for this was the privateer's name, — and remain there under hatches as prisoners. The anguish of the married men in being forced from their families, uncertain what was to be their future destiny, was indeed extreme. They were not, however, allowed even a moment to indulge their feelings, but, together with the crew of the DufF, were driven, at the point of the cutlass, into the privateer's boats, like so many sheep, without an article of their property save what was on their backs. The scene that ensued on board the privateer, the terrified Missionaries describe like a hell in miniature, for uproar. Nothing appeared to their bewildered senses but noise and confu- sion, which, with the squalid appearance and bar- barous manner of the crowd of foreigners among whom they now were, filled them with grief and horror. What both parties of the captured suffered for several days afterwards, closed beneath the hatches, under the watch of strangers, and finding that all THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 347 hopes of their voyage were at an end, — we do not tarry here to dwell upon j nor can we follow them in the succeeding troubles which they encoun- tered during the remainder of this disastrous ad- venture.* Being carried into Monte Video, and there set on shore, after many vexations they at length procured a vessel to convey them to Rio Janeiro, where they hoped to obtain at least a passage back to England. But they had not been many days at sea before they were again captured by a Portugese man-of-war, and a second time separated into small parties and sent on board different other ship?. In such circumstances, the various hardships they suffered were such as they were extremely ill prepared for, either by their principles, their habits, or their feelings ; but their ultimate fate was to be carried back to Europe, and cast in a state of destitution on the streets of Lisbon. Having procured a passage back to England, the Missionaries at length arrived in safety j with the loss, however, of every thing they possessed, and with completely frustrated purposes and anticipations. This happened just * See Gregorie's Journal of a Disappointed Missionary, Howell's Interesting Particulars of the Loss of the DufF, &c 348 JOHN JUFFF.RSON AND OTIIEllS, IN ten months from the time they had set sail from the Downs, with the brightest hopes, and noblest intentions. This disastrous termination to so favourite an adventure, acted upon the Missionary Society at home like an electric shock ; so little had its members anticipated any such result to their exer- tions. They had not recovered from the dis- tress and disappointment which it occasioned, when the most alarming accounts arrived from the South Sea of the state of the original mission. These accounts reported that eleven of the Mis- sionaries at first settled in Tahiti had been obliged, by the ill treatment of the natives, to leave the island and fly to Port Jackson -, that three of those settled at Tongatabu had been cruelly murdered ; that the rest had also found refuge at Port Jack- son, whence they were probably now on their way to England ; and that of those who had thus fled to New South Wales, one had been murdered near Port Jackson. The consternation and grief that these tidings occasioned were so great, that the fire of Mis- sionary zeal seemed to have been almost extin- guished in England. The natural despondency, occasioned by this train of misfortunes, was much THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 349 aggravated by the sneers of those who had origi- nally condemned these adventures, as wild and absurd Quixotism, which could only end in disap- pointment to the enthusiasts who projected them. In order to explain briefly the cause of these latter events, we must now return to the several Missionary settlements at first made in the South Sea. To the covetous looks which some of the natives of Tahiti often threw upon the little property of the Missionaries in that island, we have already alluded. This feeling began to show itself in the young king, Otu, himself, shortly after the departure of the Duff from Tahiti J excited as he was by his jealousy of the authority of Pomare, his father, who secretly favoured the Missionaries, and stimulated, as his worst propensities were, by the wicked sugges- tions of the two treacherous Swedes. Another thing, which, besides the temptation of their property, began to operate against the inoffensive Missionaries ; was their great humanity to those unfortunate natives, among whom the worst of those European sailors who had formerly visited the island, had left an abominable and often fatal 350 JOHN JEFFERSON AND OTHERS, IX disease. The establishment of a sort of" lio.spitHl for these wretched patients, had early occupied the endeavours of the Englishmen, but their attempts to cure those few who would intrust themselves to their care, seemed only to deepen the growing suspicion of which they gradually became the objects. Incapable of understanding the slow progress by which medicine sometimes masters the most virulent diseases ; if a cure was not performed in a few days, the natives became impatient, irritable, and suspicious ; and if any grew worse under the management of the Mis- sionaries, or died while in their charge, they did not hesitate to attribute the increased illness of the one, or the death of the other, to some un- known poison, with which the officious strangers were said to be destroying their race. A patient continuance in well doing, on the part of Mr. Jefferson and his brethren, might in time have succeeded in banishing those ignorant sus- picions, had not an event occurred that speedily brought on the most unforeseen consequences. In about a year after their first landing on the island, the Missionaries were surprised one morn- ing, by the arrival in the bay of a strange ship, THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 351 being the first that had entered it since the de- parture of the Duff. This was a vessel called the Nautilus, originally bound for the north-west coast of America, but being driven south by stormy weather, was now reduced to great dis- tress. Having nothing on board except muskets and powder, which they could barter for provisions with the natives of Tahiti, the latter, who by this time had imbibed much of the mercenary spirit of Europeans, looked upon the intruders with that contempt, which the appearance of poverty generally excites in the world. The Missionaries, on the contrary, commiserated their distress, and assisted them with provisions, so that they did not require to make any sacrifice of their scanty cargo to the cupidity of the King of Tahiti, who coveted their fire arms, with a view to the warlike purposes which then brooded in his mind. Having, with difficulty, got on board such supplies as the island afforded, chiefly by the aid of the compassionate Missionaries, the Nautilus was soon again ready for sea. On the fifth day after her arrival in the bay, she set sail from Tahiti, but the captain was forced to leave behind him five natives of the Sandwich 3.52 JOHN JEFFERSON AND OlllEltS, IN Islands, whom he had taken and carried thus far, but who, having found means to escape from the ship, remained concealed somewhere on shore. This unfortunate vessel, however, had not been gone from the island more than fourteen days, when, to the surprise of the Missionaries, she again made her appearance in Matavai bay. Having encountered a severe gale off the neigh- bouring island of Huahine, she was obliged to put back for an increase of supplies 3 the captain being forced also by these misfortunes, to alter his original destination, and to sail for Port Jack- son, on the Australian Continent. But, as if fated to suffer not only a series of troubles, but to be the means of bringing others into misfortune, the Nautilus, on the very night of her return to Tahiti, lost two of her crew, who escaping to the shore, and taking with them the long boat, left the distressed captain unable to proceed on his voyage, for want of sufficient men to work the ship. In this dilemma, he again applied to his con- siderate friends, the Missionaries, earnestly en- treating them to use their interest with the king and chiefs of the island, to obtain their endea- THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 353 vours to secure and deliver up the deserters. Though this was an exceedingly delicate business, considering the circumstances in which the Mis- sionaries were now placed, yet, compassionating much the situation of the unfortunate captain, they agreed to use their utmost interest to re- cover his men, who they had reason to sus- pect were in some way harboured by the king, liesides their concern for the situation of the officers of the Nautilus, the Missionaries were further induced to take a part in this matter, from a just alarm for themselves and their cause, fore- seeing that, were any more profligate Englishmen left on the island, they might do much to defeat the purposes of the mission. Having succeeded, in the first place, in recovering the ship's boat, which they sent to the captain, they formed a deputation from themselves, consisting of Mr. Jefferson and three others, who undertook to travel to the neighbouring district of Pare, and there to wait upon the king and chiefs, respect- ing this business. Proceeding on foot for several hours, the de- putation at length reached the king's dwelling, and found his majesty surrounded by attendants, ^ H 2 354 JOHN JEFFERSON AND OTHERS, IN among whom they perceived the five Sandwich islanders who had formerly escaped from the ship. However imp)osing the king must have appeared, as he thus sat in regal state, his em- ployment was not, to our notions, the most dig- nified; it being no other than that of cleaning a small tooth comb, with which he had probably been exercising himself in the usual way. He received the Missionary ambassadors with some politeness, touching noses, of course, in token of friendship, and he then asked them to what he was to attribute the honour of their visit. To this simple enquiry, the Missionaries, like other diplomatists in more artificial courts, thought fit to waive for the present any direct answer, and in ihe mean time, sent for Pomare, the king's father, as well as Temaree, another chief, judging it best not to open their business before they were all three together. After waiting for some time, during which the king's manner was by no means agreeable, the four Missionaries resolved that they would themselves go and fetch Pomare into his son's presence. Setting out, therefore, on this second journey, they had not proceeded quite a mile. THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 355 when the aflfair all at once began to assume an alarming appearance. The natives, in general, had saluted them as they passed, in their usual way 3 but a crowd of about thirty, gathering and following them, (a circumstance not at all uncom- mon,) as they drew near to a river which it was necessary to cross, they were each suddenly seized by three or four natives, who dragging them down hastily, tore the clothes oflf their backs. Two of them were left naked, excepting a small strip of cloth round their loins ; while the other two, whom they had also partly stripped, were dragged by the hair of the head through the river, and almost drowned : the whole now expecting nothing else but to be instantly murdered. The men who dragged Mr. Jefferson through the stream, seemed, with their companions, undeter- mined what to do with him. Some were for carrying him oflF to the mountains ; others wanted to haul him down towards the sea, while a third party collecting around, endeavoured to rescue him out of the hands of the assailants. Meantime two of the others who were stripped to the skin, were brought forward, and during the scuffle and dispute which followed, Mr. Jef- 356 JOHN JEFFERSON AND OTHERS, IN ferson prevailed upon the refractory natives to carry them to the tent of Pomare, now not far distant. This at length they all consented to do, and as the Missionaries passed along in this miserable predicament, the women came out and expressed their compassion with tears. When they had arrived at the place where Pomare was, they were received by him and Idia his wife, with every attention j and being kindly supplied with cloth to cover themselves, were pro- mised every protection that the chief could give. The three Missionaries were still without their other companion, who had been parted from them during the scuffle, and for whom they now felt the utmost anxiety. Pomare and his wife, having, as soon as they had rested, offered to accompany them to Otu, the king ; on their way thither they were again joined by their fourth companion, who, though he had been dreadfully threatened by the natives, was still safe, with the loss only of his hat and upper garments. Pomare, on their arrival at Otu's dwelling, adjourned with his son to an outer court, and ques- tioned him particularly as to the treatment of the Missionaries. Little answer was made to these THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 357 enquiries, but there seemed reason to suspect that the king was both privy to the conceahnent ot" the men on whose account the Missionaries had been brought into this trouble, and probably had given some countenance to the recent treacherous attack of the natives. At least the seamen, who now appeared among his attendants, seemed to reckon confidently on the king's protection ; and when Pomare insisted that these deserters should forthwith be delivered up, one of the sailors de- terminedly said, that if they attempted to give him back to the Nautilus, they should never take him on board with life. Meantime the general body of the Missionaries living at Matavai, having been apprised of the unexpected ill treatment of their brethren, by a boy whom one of them dispatched home soon after the aflfray, were thrown at once into the greatest alarm. Conceiving their lives no longer safe on the island, as soon as the other four returned in the evening, they all held a consultation as to what should be done. Different views were of course entertained of the actual danger which seemed to be threatened 3 but whether or not a portion of them had by this time become tired 358 JOHN JF-IFEllSON ASV OTHERS, IN of the undertaking, on the following morning eleven of their number, including four who were married, hastily resolved that they would not stay longer on the island, but that they would in- stantly take advantage of the visit of the Nautilus, and return by her in the first instance to Port Jackson. When this resolution of the Missionaries came to be known throughout Tahiti, much regret was expressed by the natives. Pomare, who had both the most energy of character, and greatest influence of any in the islandj acted on this oc- casion, in a manner that was almost noble. Tak- ing upon himself the whole obloquy of the insult offered to the strangers by his erring countrymen, he, on the second day after the stripping of the Missionaries, sent old Haamanemane, the priest, with a fowl, as an atonement, and a young })lantain tree, as a peace offering, agreeable to the manners of his country. When he found that nothing would pacify the Missionaries, he came himself to the settlement on the following day, expressing great sorrow at the resolution he had heard of, and using the most earnest entreaties to induce them to stay. The honourable minded THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 359 chief, even went to every room in the house, and to every berth where those were who had gone on board, and addressing every individual by name, begged of them not to go, giving them at the same time, every possible assurance of protection. Nothing, however, could induce the eleven, who had originally taken the resolution, to re- main another day at Tahiti. Yet were there six. of the whole body, (to wit, Mr. Jefferson, and four others, unmarried, with Mr. Eyre and his wife,) who still saw no sufficient reason to desert the work which they had come so far to perform. The magnanimous resolution of these last, gave great pleasure to Pomare and many others on the island, who instantly set upon revenging the injury which the four Missionaries had received. Attacking, therefore, the district in which the guilty natives resided, Pomare and his men killed two of them before the departure of the eleven Missionaries from the bay. Those who remained, resolving, however, to abstain entirely from war under any circumstances, sent what arms and ammunition they had, on board the Nautilus, ex- cepting two muskets which they presented to Pomare and his wife. They gave up also to this 360 JOHN JEFFERSON AND OTHERS, IN chief, in whom they resolved entirely to confide, their blacksmith's shop and all their tools j be- sides offering to put him in possession of the remainder of their property, which, however, he refused to take, except in the event of their leav- ing the island. With respect to those who abandoned the mis- sion, after a stormy and disagreeable passage of six weeks, they arrived in Port Jackson, and were received by the governor and chaplains of the settlement with every civility. It is not un- worthy of notice here, that those eleven who fled to New South Wales, were ultimately ex- posed to greater dangers, and suffered, upon the whole, much more painful hardships, than those who bravely remained to encounter whatever troubles might be attendant on the mission. It appeared evident, also, from the improper conduct of several of them after their arrival in the latter place, that the mission had rather been benefitted than the contrary, by the re- moval of men by no means calculated to up- hold its character, ov its religious efficiency.* This, however, does not apply to those who * Brown's History of the Propagation of the Gospel. THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 361 were the greatest sufferers by this rash flight. One of them, named Mr. Hassel, was dange- rously wounded, in New South Wales, by six ruffians, who broke into his lodgings, near a place called Paramatta, and besides abusing his person, robbed him of almost every thing he possessed. Another was murdered, as we have already hinted, under circumstances of barbarity, such as was little likely to have occurred even among the capricious islanders of the South Sea. JNIr. Clode, for that was the name of the latter unfortunate Missionary, had lent a small sum of money to a man named Jones, who, with his wife, lived in a cottage a short distance from the town of Sydney. Mr. Clode, preparing to sail to England, asked this man to return the money he had lent, which, after some trouble, the other at length promised to do, appointing a certain day for the Missionary to call at his house, when he would settle the business. But, unwilling to return the money, though justly due, the wretch, with his wife, planned the murder of him who had generously lent it to ihem in their need, and who had, during all the time of his stay in the country, been, as it afterwards 2 I 362 JOHN JEFFF.llSON AND OTHERS, IN appeared, their greatest friend. Having got ano- ther accomphce, named Elbray, to assist in the murder, these monsters watched for the poor man's arrival 3 and the wife having taken the children and some visitors out, the two men made ready for the bloody deed, while the un- suspicious Missionary sat down at a table to draw out a receipt. While thus seated, Elbray went behind the victim with an axe in his hand, but his heart failing him, he laid down his weapon and slipped out of the house. He had scarcely gone, however, when, standing without, he heard the first blow fall on the scull of the unhappy Missionary. The remainder of the tale is too horrible to detail, but after nearly severing the head from the body, one of the nmrderers carried it to a pit J and covering it with boughs, they thought all was safe from discovery. Returning to the house, after this horrible deed, the wretches made themselves merry with their visitors, drink- ing and singing until the night was far advanced. But the fate of the murderer may easily be anticipated, however well he imagines he has concealed his deed. Next morning a man, who laboured near the pit, was attracted towards it THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 3G3 by curiosity upon observing the boughs ; and re- moving them, he was shocked by the sight of a dead man's hand. Running from the spot and giv- ing the ahirm, Jones and his wife immediately en- deavoured to fasten the murder upon the poor man who had discovered the body. But blood haying- been traced from the very door of Jones's cottage to the pit, and other indisputable evidence having been found against him and his accomplices, the whole three were condemned to sutfer for this atrocious murder. They were executed on the spot where their house stood, it having by this time been razed to the ground by order of the Governor The two men were hung in chains beside the pit, and the body of the woman was given to the surgeons for dissection. To return to the Missionaries now left at Ta- hiti. Though thus reduced in numbers, and all their eflforts crippled and circumscribed, they did not seem discouraged, but rather deteraiined to use renewed diligence. Nevertheless the quarrel between Pomare and the people of an entire dis- trict on their account, threatened to involve the whole island in war. Several circumstances arose out of this (juarrcl, which were of a very trying 364 JOHN JEFFERSON AND OTIIEIIS, IN nature to Mr. Jefferson, and the choice men remaining of the mission ; other occurrences followed between them and the natives^ the details of which are more intricate than amusing. But two things happened among themselves, which must have added greatly to their external troubles. One was the partial defection of one of their number, on account of a female of the island, with whom he avowed his determination to live, requesting his brethren to sanction a marriage between them. This the otiiers w'ould by no means consent to do, urging upon Mr. Lewis, the backsliding Missionary, the unlawfulness of a Christian man uniting himself to a woman who was a heathen. Before this matter had proceeded far on the part of Lewis, his brethren rather precipitately, (that is, on the following day after his application to be married,) passed sentence of excommunica- tion against him, and from that day refused all Christian and social intercourse with him. This they did, although he and his native wife continued constant attendants upon their publnr worship j and though he was at least industrious, particularly in his garden, and in labouring for the chiefs, who THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 3(35 shewed luuch attachment to him. The conduct of the body of the Missionaries to this unfortu- tunate man, has been censured, as appearing throughout to be " unfeehng, ungenerous, and unkind j" and if so, must have gone far to aggra- vate, what they ought rather to have met with a different treatment. But be that as it may, the man is said, ultimately, to have lived very unhap- pily in separation from his brethren, and in com- pany with the woman to whom he had unfortu- nately attached himself; and finally, was found murdered in his own house, under circumstances which never have been properly explained, but it was believed that he fell a sacrifice to the trea- chery of the natives. The other painful circumstance occurred about six months after the death of Lewis, and arose from a species of disaffection very unusual among such as undertake the duties of a Missionary, In short, one of their now reduced number, after having for some time shown a strange and grow- ing change in his sentiments upon religion, ulti- mately shocked his Missionary brethren, by dc- daring himself an infidel. Mr. Jefferson and the others, now convinced of their precipitancy 2 I 2 366 JOHN JEFFERSON AND OTHERS, IN with regard to the unfortunate Lewis, were much more moderate with this Mr. Broomhall. They argued with him upon the subject of their own faith j they expostulated with him upon his duty to himself and the mission ^ but all in vain. Though he acknowledged that he was less happy in unbelief than when he enjoyed the hopes and supports of Christianity, he refused to be con- vinced by all they could urge, and they first sus- pended him from Christian communion, and then passed sentence of excommunication u^on him. Some females of the island had also about this time attracted the attention of this suspicious dehnquent, particularly one who was intimate in the family of Pomare, the chief. Another, with whom he afterwards lived openly, having deserted him, he did not scruple to take a third, with whom he lived until the time that he left the island. The next thing that tended to the further weak- ening of the mission at Tahiti, was the departure of Mr. Harris, one of the few that remained, for New South Wales ; an opportunity having offered by the arrival of the Betsey, an English letter of marque, in the bay, who, with a Spanish brig, her prize, was proceeding to Port Jackson. This THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 367 Mr. Harris, it will be remembered, was the same who was so terrified by the islanders of Ton- gatabii 3 but having had the courage to remain at Tahiti so long, he now sought to pay a visit to Australia, promising to return when the Betsey should again visit these islands. The wish of the INIissionary having been agreed to, on the first day of the year 1800, the Betsey, with Mr. Harris on board, took her leave of the island of Tahiti. 368 JOHN JLi'i'iiRkON AND OTHERS, IN CHAPTER II. Continuation of the History of tiie Mission left at Tongatabu by the Sliip Duff — Murder of the principal Cliief, and War in the Island — Great danger of the Missionaries, and Murder of three of them — Apostacy of Veeson, who is made a Chief of the Island — His anxiety to leave it — Is taken on board of an English ship — Fate of Mr. Crook, formerly left at Santa Christina — History of the Mission at Tahiti. In our brief account of the first Missionary voy- age by the ship DuflF, our readers will remember it was stated, that ten Missionaries had been left on the island of Tongatabu, and that at the time of the Duff's second visit, they were scattered, under the protection of different chiefs, with whom they had placed themselves in companies of twos and threes, for their general support and safety. For some time these Missionaries were suf- fered to pursue their exertions for acquiring the language, and other purposes of the mission, in tolerable quietness ; and were in general kindly THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 369 treated by the natives. They found their main labour, however, much more difficult than they had at first imagined ; and, even when they had acquired some few words in the language, and attempted to make known their ideas to the na- tives, they perceived that these were in a much more savage state than the islands of Tahiti ; and that, in fact, it was almost impossible to get them to comprehend any thing that paved the way to the reception of an enlightened religion. Nothing seemed to charm or astonish these people, among all the things that the strangers had brought to their island, so much as their cuckoo clocks, which the wondering natives called " the speaking wood," and which brought them in such crowds to this new exhibition, that the Mission- aries were at last obliged to refuse them admit- tance into their house. It was formerly stated, that great uneasi- ness was at first suffered by the Missionaries in Tongalabu, from the treachery and profligacy of three European sailors, whom, on their arrival, they had found on the island. Having repre- sented this to Captain Wilson, of the Duff, on his second visit, the Captain made a dash upon 370 JOHN JEFFERSON AND OTIIEKS, IN them, in order, if possible, to carry them off with him to Europe, and thus relieve the Missionaries of their annoyance. With Connelly only, his attempt was successful. Him he carried off, but the other two — Ambler and Morgan — had pene- trated his design, and effected their escape. These ruffians did not long continue to deceive the natives, and misrepresent the Missionaries. — Having, at length, by their bad conduct, com- pletely lost the confidence of the chiefs, they rose upon them, and successively took their lives. The untractable natives themselves, in time, gave the Missionaries much cause for the most serious apprehensions. These inoffensive and laborious men were frequently the object of halt- formed plots, which, however, by means of dis- agreement among the conspirators, or the con- duct — perhaps the caprice — of some one of their savage protectors, were always defeated. At last, however, the chief Toogahowe, their principal friend, having been barbarously mur- dered when asleep, by his own brother, the whole island became involved in a most bloody and desolating civil war ; during which the Mission- aries were driven from place to place, witnessing TIIR SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 371 scenes of barbarity which shocked and terrified them^ added to which, their own lives were frequently in the utmost jeopardy. One day, after a battle between the royahsts, (the friends of the late Toogahowe, who had been Dugona or king), and the rebels by whom he had been murdered, the victorious party having pursued the others to the district where three of the Missionaries liv^ed together, the latter, apprehending no danger, came out of their houses to look at the warriors as they passed. The savages, now wild with the excite- ment of slaughter, looked upon these inoffensive men, who had always refused to join in their wars, with ferocious eyes 5 andone of them remembering, at the moment, a refusal he had met with of some unreasonable request, either from these three Mis- sionaries, or their brethren at a distance, fell upon them to take his revenge. The others also, only waited for a signal to attack them, and in a few minutes the whole three, together with an American seaman who had been lately left on the island, were murdered on the spot. While this scene was acting, the rest of the Missionaries had been forced from their homes by the terrors of the war, and the hatred of the 372 JOHN JEFFERSON AND OTHERS, IN party whom they would not join in their aggres- sions upon their enemies ; and, after various insults and sufferings, had taken refuge upon a rock at the further part of the island. Driven again from this retreat, they, in their flight, met a strong party of armed men, who demanded their clothes, with which request they instantly complied, glad to part with any thing for the saving of their lives. Having hidden themselves among a range of rocks which overlooked the sea, with a thick wood between them and the open country, they thought themselves as safe as men can be, who are hiding among the rocks and dens of the earth from a ferocious enemy. But want of food soon forced them from their retreat, and after journeying through the de- solated country, they were permitted to bury the mangled bodies of their companions, over whose shroudless remains, they had scarcely opportunity to say one prayer. After the termination of this desolating war, the fugitive and dispirited Missionaries were ob- liged to support themselves, by working at a forge, which they, with much difficulty, erected. All their property having been taken from them. THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 373 they had no other way of buying food from the natives, than by labouring as blacksmiths for such as employed them, many of whom, with perfect effrontery, brought to be forged the iron utensils which they themselves had stolen. The circumstances of the Mission- aries were now to the last degree degrading as well as unproductive ; and niany occurrences look place, excessively trying to their feelings and tempers. Besides the murder of three of their number during the war, another of them, named Veeson, had long before completely apos- tatized, and first going to live with a native woman, he afterwards entirely adopted the habits of the islanders. At length, so completely did this man throw off all profession of Christianity, that he did not even know the Sabbath when it came. The abject and hopeless situation of the Mis- sionaries, now caused them to wish anxiously to get off from the island. Their clothes were worn out, they were almost destitute of food, while a general scarcity was apprehended in con- sequence of the war ; and they were kept in in- cessant alarm by the report of plots fur their destruction. Their subjection to the natives had '2 K 374 JOHN JEFFF.USUN .AND OTHERS, IN now not only made them wretched, but deprived them of all hopes of becoming useful as instruc- tors ; and they longed exceedingly for deliverance from a state of miserable exile and constant jeo- pardy. One evening, after dark, in the month of January in the year 1800, while lingering on in this distressing condition, they heard the report of two guns in the bay. The anxiety and joy which this gave them may be conceived, when it is considered, that before this they had been pro- jecting a plan to get away, and to sail to New South Wales in their own small boat. They passed the night in the most anxious suspense, and in the morning no vessel being in sight, they tried to get out to sea to have a full view of the roads, but to their great distress they were unable to get their boat off the beach. It was not before evening that they were enabled to eflfect their purpose, and after sailing several leagues they saw with joy two ships, one of which proved to the English ship Betsey, formerly mentioned ; the other the Spanish brig, her prize, with which she was bound for Port Jackson. The com- mander. Captain Clark, received the destitute Missionaries with great kindness and humanity. 'I HE bOL'TIl SLA ISLANDS. 375 and otFered them a passage in his cabin, and every accommodation, till he had carried them to Port Jackson. They embraced his offer with the great- est thankfulness, yet with mingled sensations of joy and regret, as they prepared to leave a place, wherein they had so long and so fruitlessly laboured. Before the final sailing of the ships, several of the chiefs and other natives came on board, and took an aflfectionate farewell of the Missionaries. They had a short and pleasant passage to Port Jackson, and all except one soon after returned to England. With respect to the Missionary named Veeson, who turned apostate, the remainder of his history is so singular, as to deserve a brief notice here. When he first began to live with the native woman, he proposed to marry her, and his bre- thren, seeing no other remedy for his caprice, agreed to perform the ceremony. When, how- ever, they came to explain to the woman, in the presence of her proposed husband, the nature of so solemn a covenant as marriage, she, having little notion of a bond which was to last till the death of one of the parties, during all which time they vowed to love and be faithful to each 376 JOHN JEFFERSON AND OTHERS, IN Other, burst into tears when she thought of it. She said it was the fear of the chief and of her parents that influenced her, and not affection for the man now before her, and she refused to enter into so solemn an engagement. This con- scientious savage was now returned to her parents, but Veeson having afterwards sent for her, made her consent to live with him without any formal marriage. Having subsequently given up Christianity, and even returned his bible to the Missionaries, Vee- son now became a proper islander, and obtaining a considerable piece of land from the chief, he cultivated it with such effect by the assistance of the natives, as to make it the admiration of the whole island. Having obtained great credit and intimacy with the chiefs, he went with them constantly on their parties of pleasure, and being raised to the consideration of a chief him- self, he took several more native wives, agree- able to the custom so prevalent in Polynesia. But he had still so much of the feeling of an European, as to be horrified by the practices which he witnessed among the islanders, when their wars commenced -, and becoming disgusted THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 377 with a savage life, and weary of the ferocity which he could not prevent, he longed exceedingly to quit the island. This, for a long time, was his particular object, and seeing the Missionaries embark in the Betsey, while he was obliged to lose the opportunity, he considered this misfortune as a just punish- ment to himself for his apostacy. He had not been sensible of the blessings of Christianity, and the benefits of civilisation, when he wantonly chose a savage life. The scenes he was after- wards forced to witness, were a just recompense for his dereliction of duty j for, in a succeeding war, when the island was again laid waste, he beheld human bodies that had been butchered, " placed transversely upon each other, and piled up in a large stack, as trophies of victory." Having first escaped to the Harby islands, in the neighbourhood, and afterwards being made chief of the Vavou islands, he was just about to enter upon this dangerous dignity, when, in the month of August, 1801, he heard of the near ap- proach of an English ship. Before, however, he was able to reach the welcome vessel, he found her under weigh j and crying out in English 2 K 2 378 JOHN JEFFERSON AND OTHERS, IN "How do you do? countrymen!" as she sailed along, the sailors on board only laughed at him, for as he was dressed and tattooed as a native chief, they thought he had only picked up that phrase of Enghsh, and was actually what he ap- peared to be. The people of the ship, therefore, took no notice, but continued under sail ; so he was left to shout in vain j for, having been long unused to speak English, the chief part of what he uttered was spoken like a savage, in the language of the islands, which only confirmed those on board in their opinion that he was actually a native. The cries and gestures of the unfortunate man, now made violent by despair, at length brought the Captain on the ship's deck 3 who, when he had attentively observed him for some time, said to those around — "that must certainly be an European." He then gave orders to lower the boat, and having manned it with eight persons, they rowed towards this questionable savage. But Veeson was now surrounded on every side by canoes full of the natives, who seemed de- termined not to suffer his departure from among them. At length, one of those in his own boat, compassionating his condition, made a sign for THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 379 him to dive J which, when the proper oppor- tunity appeared, he instantly did, and kept himself under water for a considerable time, for fear the islanders should strike him with their paddles. He then rose to the surface and swam, when his countrymen drawing near him with their boat, pulled him in 3 and, after dangerously at- tempting to chase the natives, from which he was barely able in his broken English to dissuade them, they at length took him into the ship. When the renegade Missionary found himself among Europeans, it was a long time before he could, after the wild and free life he had led, submit to the restraints of civilised society. He was first taken to China in this ship — the Royal Admiral ; from thence he sailed in another vessel bound for America, with which he engaged himself in a useful capacity 3 and after having performed other voyages, he at length returned to England, where, though he still manifested much aversion to a settled life, it is said he ultimately returned to Christian principles and to comfort. It now only remains to say a few words re- garding the fate of Mr. Crook, the young man who was left bv. the Duff, in 1797, without any 380 JOHN JEFFERSON AND OTHERS IN English companion, in the island of St. Christina. Crook undoubtedly possessed all the enthusiasm and courage so requisite for a Missionary, but he seems to have formed a wrong estimate of what was necessary for the civihsing or christianising a savage people, else he never would have attempted so formidable a labour single-handed. For many months after he was left on the island, the chief hardship he suflFered was from scarcity of food, — the former improvidence of the natives having left the island in such a state, that he and they were almost starved. This circumstance, however, by no means prevented the chiefs from exercising that hospitahty and kindness towards him, which was very much in their nature ; for they were always ready to share with the solitary Missionary, the morsel that they had. By the time that Crook had been a year on the island, he was taken from it by an accident, which though he could not foresee, yet seems to have been little against his wishes. A ship having arrived off the island, the Missionary went on board to make some cncjuiries, and to write by her to Europe, if she should be found to offer an opportunity. But the wind coming to blow rather fresh from the land. THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 381 the captain found it impracticable to work back into the harbour, and the ship was driven off to sea with Mr. Crook on board. Finding himself dis- appointed in respect to Santa Christina, the Mis- sionary requested to be taken to Sir Henry Mar- tyn's Island, which lies about sixty miles to the north-west, and the Captain having borne away to that place, there Crook was put ashore. Having, by this time, made great progress in acquiring the language of these islands, the people, on the landing of Crook in this new spot, were so astonished at hearing a white man speak like themselves, that they were convinced he was a god, and he found it difficult to persuade them from this idolatrous fancy. Immediately, how- ever, the principal chief adopted the stranger as his taio, or friend ; and besides liberally supplying him with provisions, gave him a large piece of ground, abundantly stocked with the best trees of the island, upon which Crook soon built himself a house, and enclosed the whole with a fence of bamboo. Here he lived in unusual comfort for seven months ; but at the end of that time, two ships from London having visited this island, in quest of refreshments, he became their interpreter 382 JOHN JEFFERSON AND OTHERS, IN with the inhabitants j and being convinced of the little good he was Hkely to effect by himself, he availed himself of the opportunity which was afforded him to return to England, with the in- formation which his residence among the INIar- quesan islands had enabled him to collect. Ac- cordingly, having taken a passage in the Butter- worth, one of the visitor ships, he left the island, and arrived in England in May, 1799, having been absent nearly two years and eight months. To return to the small remnant of Mission- aries yet left on the island of Tahiti. — It was only five days after Mr. Harris left them in the Betsy, for Port Jackson, as above stated, (January, 1800), before another vessel arrived from the latter port, bringing back to the island, with his wife, one of the eleven Missionaries who had left it during the panic in March, 1798. This reinforcement of their numbers, slight as it was, together with the hope of a large addition in a short time by the DufF, of whose second voyage these last brought the agreeable intelligence, caused the Missionaries to think of building a house expressly for public worship, and the instruc- tion of the natives, as they were likely soon to THE SOUTH SF.A ISLANDS. 383 be able to address them in their own language. Shortly after this, however, they received the disheartening intelligence of the capture of the Duff, and the sending back of the Missionaries on board of her, as well as the various disasters that had befallen the missions at Tongatabu and the Marquesan islands. The most friendly assurances of protection and co-operation, re- ceived shortly after from the governors of the colony of New South Wales, tended, in some measure, to restore the drooping hopes of the Missionaries ; and in the month of July, 1801, they were cheered by the arrival of the Royal Admiral, English ship, carrying on board their old friend William Wilson, as captain, (the brother of the captain of the Duff), and eight new Missionaries, together with fresh sup- plies, and letters from their friends, and the directors of the Society in England. The mission from this time began to wear an exceedingly promising appearance. Otu, the king, Pomare, his father, and other principal chiefs of the island, received the new Missionaries with respect, and welcome j and the latter, having brought with them sundry useful plants 384 JOHN JEFFERSON AND OTHERS, IN and seeds from Europe, and Port Jackson, — such as the vine, the fig, and the peach tree, — they were all put down in the Missionary garden, at Matavai, and soon began to thrive well. By this time the pine-apple and water-melon, origi- nally brought out in the DufF, were growing luxuriantly ; and of the latter, the natives were remarkably fond. Soon after this new and enlivening reinforcement, Mr. Jefferson and his friends found themselves able to address the islanders in their own tongue ; and began also to catechise and instruct the native children. It was not long before two of their number ventured upon a preaching tour through the island, and found the natives, in general, both hospitable, and attentive to the various '* strange things" which they brought to their ears. While all this was going on among the Mis- sionaries, a few simple circumstances, arising out of the idolatrous prejudices of the chiefs, involved the whole island in war, from which sprung such important consequences, both to the chiefs and to the miss^ion, that they will demand a brief detail in a new chapter. THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 385 CHAPTER III. Cause of the War in Tahiti— Arrival of Englishmen on the Island, who aid the Missionaries in defending the Settlement— Suspen- sion of Hostilities— Preaching in the language of the Tahitians, and difficulties of the Missionaries— Burning of their Planta- tions, by the Natives— Mortality in the Island, and violent pre- judice against the Missionaries— Their Privations — Arrival of a vessel from Port Jackson— Death of Mr. Jefferson— Renewal of the War— Flight of the Missionaries, and Expulsion of the King— Present abandonment of the Mission, and effects of the intelligence of it in England. While a grand ceremony was performing by King Otu and his people, in honour of the national idol called Oro, at the great Marai, in the district of Aheturu, the king, and his father, Pomare, took a fancy to carry the idol to another part of their dominions, namely, the smaller peninsula of the island. The chiefs of the district where the god was usually kept, stoutly resisted his majesty's wishes, which induced him to seize upon the idol, and carry it off by force of arms ; and this caused a great rebellion in Tahiti. 1 L 3th of January, 1817, they, at day-break in the morning, discovered them- selves to be close to an island called Rapa, which had been discovered by Vancouver in 1791. The appearance of this island from the sea, like most of those in the Pacific ocean, seems to be singularly romantic. No low land met the sea on its shores, but lofty mountains rising towards its centre, were washed at their bases by the restless waves j while a part of the banks covered with bushes and verdure THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 413 surrounded them like belts, and winding vallies between, shot farther than the eye could reach into the interior of the country. The noble mountains, which formed the high land in the centre of the island, says Mr. Ellis, were " singu- larly broken in shape, so as to resemble, in no small degree, a range of irregularly inclined cones, or cylindrical columns, which their original dis- coverer supposed to be towers, or fortifications, manned with natives." Sailing round this picturesque island and ad- miring its scenery, the Missionaries observed several canoes put oflf from the shore, and about thirty of them soon after surrounded the ship, but kept for a long time at a considerable distance ; the natives seeming to look at the European vessel with much surprise and emotion. The bodies of these islanders were finely formed, their features regular, and in many cases handsome : their countenances partly shaded with black curl- ing, and sometimes long straight hair 3 and their skin, not tattooed like the New Zealanders, was of a dark copper colour. A girdle of yellow leaves round their waists, was all the cover- ing they wore. After some difficulty, the Mis- 2 K 2 414 W. ELLIS AND OTIIEIIS, IN sionaries got a few of them to approach the ship's side, and one of them to accept of a few hooks, for a lobster which was perceived lying at the bottom of his boat. The chief after gazing curiously at the hooks gave them to a boy, who, having no pocket or place about his person to put them in, thrust them into his mouth. When the Missionary offered his hand to the savage chief to assist him in getting into the ship, the latter, first drawing back^ afterwards put the white hand close to his nose and smelt at it, as if to ascertain what sort of being he was thus coming in contact with. When he had at length climbed up the ship's side and got on the quarter deck, the Cap- tain politely handed him a chair and made signs for him to sit, but after examining the seat, he put it aside and sat down on the deck. Although these islanders were shy at first, they soon became as bold in their manners as they are described to be savage in their looks. Many of them began to climb over the bulwarks of the vessel, and soon crowds of them appeared on the deck. The object of the fiercest looking seemed to be, to carry oflF whatever they took a fancy to, and that either by stealth or force 3 so THE SOUriJ SEA INLANDS. 415 while the others were gazing about^ a gigantic fellow, catching hold of one of the ship-boys, endeavoured to lift him from the deck, but the lad struggling, got free from his grasp. He next seized the cabin-boy, but the sailors inter- fered, and when the savage found himself pre- vented from carrying the boy off, he pulled the youth's woollen shirt over his head, with which he prepared to leap overboard, when the sailors arrested him, and made him give it up. Another native seized a large ship-dog, which was on board, and the animal, being terrified by the appearance of the islanders, lost all his courage, and suffered himself to be taken up in the arms of the man 3 who was proceeding with it over the ship's side, when the chain by which it was bound to its kennel prevented him. The savage then tried to carry off kennel and all, but finding it made fast to the deck, he was obliged to relinquish it, and seemed much disap- pointed. While the natives gazed round them for some- thing else that they could capture, a young cat, which had been brought from Port Jackson, made its appearance from the cabin gangway. 416 W. ELLIS AND OTHERS^ IN The moment the unconscious animal came upon deck, a native sprang upon it like a tiger, and, catching it up, jumped overboard with it, and plunged into the sea. Those on board imme- diately ran to the side, to see what the savage meant to do with the cat. He had now risen to the surface, and was swimming vigorously towards a canoe, which lay about fifty yards off. When he got to the canoe he held up the cat in both his hands, over his head, in the highest exultation, while the natives were pad- dling in every direction towards him, to get a sight of the strange creature which he had brought from the ship. When the Captain observed the success of the robber, he levelled his musket, and was about to fire at the man, had he not been withheld by the arguments of the Missionaries. He then gave orders to clear the ship 3 and a strange scene ensued, for there was a sudden scuffle between the sailors and the natives. Many of the latter were pitched clean overboard by the sailors, which was not the slightest inconvenience to them, while others clambered up the shrouds, and hung about the chains. The dog, formerly so terrified, now THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 4l7 sought revenge, by tearing the legs of some natives who would not leave the ship, while others required the long knives carried by seamen in sailing the South Sea to be used, before they were completely expelled. The inhabitants of Rapa, in most particulars, bear a general resemblance to the other islanders of the Pacific Ocean 3 but are much less civi- lised in their manners, more rude in their arts, and possess, consequently, fewer comforts than the Tahitians, or any other natives of the more northern islands. Upon being afterwards visited by other Missionaries, the population of Rapa was found to contain about two thousand inhabi- tants J and, savage as they are, considerable improvement has been since effected among them. The island itself is about twenty miles in circumference, has an excellent harbour, though with an intricate entrance j and is tole- rably well wooded and watered. Leaving Rapa, and sailing northerly, the Missionaries, on the 3rd of February, descried the island of Tabuai, which had originally been discovered by Cook, in the year 177T. This was the first of the South Sea islands wliich was 418 W. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN seen by the Missionaries in the DufF, in 1797^ as already related 3 and here, also, the mutineers who rose against their officers, whom they expelled from their ship, the Bounty, in 1789, found their first refuge. These unfortunate and abandoned men, having, by their lawless con- duct, provoked the natives to rise against them, a murderous battle on this island ensued, wherein a number of the former were slain 3 but the seamen were so hard pressed by the infuriated islanders, that nothing but their own skill in the use of fire arms, and the advantageous position in which they had posted themselves, preserved them from total destruction. The final settle- ment of these men on Pitcairn's Island, after Laving landed on Tahiti, with the ultimate apprehension of several of them, and other interesting circumstances, have been celebrated by the late Lord Byron, in his poem called, " The Island 5 or Christian and his Com- panions." The island of Tabuai is less picturesque than Rapa, but is hilly and verdant. Some of the hills had, to our visitors' apprehension, a sun- burnt appearance, unlike what is usual in the THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 419 other islands, but others were partially covered with wood. A reef of coral runs out into the sea which surrounds it, protecting the lowlands from the incursion of its waves. As the ship approached the shore, a number of canoes filled with natives, came out as usual to view the strangers. These canoes were sixteen to twenty feet long, resembling those they had seen at Rapa, but less noble in form than the prowed boats of the New Zealandersj the lower part being formed of the hollowed trunk of a tree, and the sides, stem and stern, being composed of thin planks, sewed together, with what the na- tives of these islands call cinet 3 a sort of twine made from the fibrous husk of the cocoa nut. A fine looking chief came on board the ship with the other natives, and did all in his power to induce the ship's people to land on his island. This request was, however, refused for the pre- sent, at least ; and as the islander staid on board the whole of that day and night, he was con- siderably aflFected by the motion of the vessel. The Missionary describes the manners of this man to have been mild and friendly, and was much struck with his handsome form and noble 420 W. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN mien ; though his only dress was a broad girdle round his loins, his body being but little tatooed, and his glassy black hair tied in a bunch on the crown of his head, while its extremities hung in ringlets over his shoulders. Next morning a party from the ship going on shore, found the people friendly, though not numerous, and quite ready to barter their fowls and island fruits, for the fish hooks and other articles of cutlery which the ship had brought. When a more extended view of the natives was obtained, the strangers found many of them, who wore, (besides a light robe of their native cloth over their shoulders,) many folds of white or yellow cloth bound round their heads, which gave them, of course, much of an Asiatic appearance. ^Many also had round their necks, strings of a strong scented nut called the pandanus, the smell of which is, by use, grateful to the islanders of the Pacific. Sailing from Tabuai, on the 4th of February, unfavourable winds retarded their progress, so that it was not until the 10th, that the Mission- aries were gratified with their first sight of the celebrated island of Tahiti. About sunset, their ship drew near to Point Venus, which they THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 421 descried to the south, and saihng along, charmed with the rich and varied scenery of this island- paradise, several canoes of the natives came out to meet them. Being, however, drifted off shore in the night, it was not until mid-day of the 16th February, 1817, that their ship cast anchor in Matavai bay. 2o 42% \V. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN CHAPTER II. Impressions of the Scenery of Tahiti — Landing of a Horse, and astonishment of the Natives — Visit of the Queen and her Attend- ants to the Ship— Departure for Eimeo, and arrival there— State of the Mission, and Sketch of late Changes in these Islands — Conversion of Pomare— Abolition of Idolatry — the Idols publicly burned— Persecution of the Christians — Remarkable progress of Christianity. The eflfect produced by the scenery of the island of Tahiti upon Mr. Ellis and his friends, as their ship first sailed into Matavai Bay, within which the other Missionaries had formerly dwelt, is scarcely to be described. The sea on which they ghded along, was smooth and glassy j the morning was fair, and the climate already gave an exhilaration to the spirits 3 a light breeze wafted along the shore, while the sky above their heads was with- out a cloud. All that our Missionary had ever heard of this " most enchanting island," seemed THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 423 surpassed by the reality, when its romantic scenery came fairly before his eyes. He speaks of beholding successively " all the diversity of hill and valley, broken or stupendous mountains and rocky precipices, clothed with every variety of verdure, from the moss of the jutting promon- tories on the shore, to the deep and rich foliage of the bread-fruit tree ; the oriental luxury of the tropical pandanus, or the wavering plumes of the lofty and graceful cocoa-nut grove." We have already given some description of this bay, as it impressed Captain Wilson and his friends 3 but to the imaginative eye of the present Missionary traveller, it had charms of a still higher order. The cataract rushing down the mountain side, or foaming in its rocky bed below j — the clear stream stealing through those valleys which wound in fairy vistas into the broken and tangled groves of the interior 3 — the numerous hills and mountains tow- ering in the back ground 3 over which, enveloped in clouds, the lofty Orohena, the central moun- tain of the island, lifts its misty head, to the great height of nearly seven thousand feet above the sea 3 — while in the fore-ground, the green 424 W. ELLIS AND Ol'IlERS, IN slopes which sweep down from the groves among the hills, are met by " the white-crested waters of the Pacific, rolling their waves of foam in splendid majesty upon the coral reefs ; or dashing in spray against its broken shore," — all formed a scene of which language can very inadequately convey an idea. Buried among the vallies, or peeping out from the groves of fruit trees, the houses of the natives are here and there seen, to give life, as well as the idea of enjoyed happiness, to this delicious Eden of the South sea. The Missionaries regarded the natives, who had by this time crowded on board, with much interest, as -those among whom the rest of their days might probably be spent ; but in stopping at Matavai Bay, they were but paying a visit to Tahiti ; for they were, in the first instance, bound for the neighbouring island of Eimeo, whither, it will be remembered, the original Missionaries had fled with the king, after they were forced to leave the former island, several years before. King Pomare had, however, before the present visit of Mr. Ellis, returned to Tahiti, although none of the old Missionaries had, as yet, accompanied him ; a remarkable revolution having in the interim THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 425 taken place ; some account of which we shall give in its proper place. His Tahitian Majesty soon came on board, and welcomed Mr. Ellis, having sent before him his present of provisions. Pomare II. (formerly Otu) was about forty years of age, and his tall, and almost gigantic figure, his kingly appearance for a savage monarch, his oriental features and copper colour, and his dress of white native cloth, contrasting with his glossy black hair, impressed the Mis- sionary with involuntary respect. He spoke a little English, and enquired of the Missionaries concerning King George of Britain, Governor Maquarrie of New Holland, and Mr. Marsden 5 asking also some particulars regarding the time of the departure of their ship from the latter place, and what had been the incidents of their voyage. He brought with him a small English Bible, out of which Mr. Ellis, at his request, read him two chapters, he being at this time able to understand the English language in some mea- sure, though little able to speak it. Ascending from the ship's cabin, where the meeting between him and the Missionary had taken place, and going to see what things had 2 o 2 426 W. ELI.lS .\NU OTilIiRS, Ix\ been brought from New Holland, his Tahitian Majesty was highly delighted with a horse which was in the hold, and which had been sent to him from the latter place as a present ; it being an animal unknown in the islands of the South Seas. It was intended to send the horse ashore at once, for which purpose the king ordered a pair of large canoes to the ship's side. The animal was then hoisted out of the hold on slings, and from the deck hauled by ropes to the yard arm, in order to be from thence dropped upon the plat- form laid across the two canoes. While, how- ever, the beast was hoisted up, and hung by the middle from the yard arm in the air 3 to the great consternation of the king and the other natives, some of the bandages round it gave way, by which accident it was left suspended by the neck and fore legs 3 and after sprawling in that situa- tion for some time, slipped through the slings and plunged into the sea. The natives looked on in astonishment, until they perceived the animal rise to the surface, and after snorting and shaking its head, begin to swim vigorously towards the shore. They then jumped into the sea after him ; and followed him like a shoal of sharks, some seizing THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 427 him by the tail, others by his riiane, until the poor beast was terrified almost into drowning. The king shouted as loud as he could, calling upon his people to leave the horse j but the clamour and noise prevented him from being heard, and though the captain of the ship lowered down the boat for the same purpose, it was of no avail. At length the exhausted animal reached the shore in safety, and when he got out of the water, and began to walk along the beach, the natives perceiving that he was not a fish, fled with precipitation from so strange a quadruped j some cHmbing trees to be enabled to get a sight of him in safety, and others crouch- ing behind the rocks and bushes by the shore, while he passed. To them the poor horse was a sight equally astonishing and alarming ; but when they observed one of the seamen who had been sent after the beast, approach it without fear, and taking hold of the halter still hanging by its neck, proceed to lead it along, they began to gather round to satisfy their curiosity. The queen (whom Pomare had married a few years back) soon after this, paid the Missionary a visit on board. Mr, Ellis describes her as in 42^ W. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN stature about the middle size, extremely elegant in form, and prepossessing in her whole appear- ance, her complexion fairer than any of the natives he had yet seen. He thought her voice somewhat harsh, and her manners less en- gaging than those of some of her companions ; but her dress was flowing and tastefully arranged, being of native cloth, beautifully white ; it was formed like the Roman toga, fastened to her left shoulder, and hung down to her ankle. Her hair was somewhat fair, (which was remarkable in an islander), and she wore on her head a bonnet, made of green and yellow cocoa-nut leaves, which, the Missionary thought, looked light and elegant. She had no rings in her ears, but in the perfo- rations of each, were inserted some flowers from a fragrant plant called the Cape Jessamin. Her sister, named Pomare Vahine, accompanied her to the ship, as did also her daughter, who appeared about six years of age, and who with her nurse and other attendants, was brought into the ship's cabin. A numerous retinue followed these per- sonages, and after spending two hours on board the vessel, unable however to address a word to the Captain or the Missionary, the whole, after THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 429 receiving u tew presents, took their departure, and in many canoes, returned to the shore. But the greatest diversion the natives had, was with the horse, which had been left for the first night tied up, and under the charge of one of the most favourite of the king's chiefs. On the morning succeeding its going on shore, it was brought forth after the business of bartering for provisions had been finished, and led out while the multitude gathered around, and gazed upon it with pleasure and astonishment. The king had also come down to the beach ; and a saddle and bridle having been brought and delivered to his majesty, he begged that the animal might be invested with them, and that some one might be placed on his back. The horse's accoutrements being accordingly put on, the Captain of the ship mounted him, and rode along the beach, doubtless with all the ease and grace of a seaman, en cavalier, upon which the natives shouted with dehght, calling the animal in their language, a land-running pig, a man-carrying pig, and other names expressive of their ideas of such a wonderful creature. The horse being left in the king's possession, 430 W. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN and all things settled that were Intended for the present to be done in Tahiti, the ship next day weighed anchor, and soon arrived at Eimeo, which is only about fourteen miles distant from the former island. Eimeo, or as it w^as formerly called Moorea, is twenty-five miles in circum- ferance, and fully as beautiful and romantic in its scenery as Tahiti itself. A coral reef sur- rounds it like a ring, extending in some places above a mile from the shore, and on this beautiful circle, over which the sea constantly froths and washes, several small and verdant islands rise green and romantic. This island was a favourite retreat of Pomare the then king of Tahiti, when political troubles assailed him -, and was now the head quarters of that mission to the South Sea, which amidst every discouragement had never been wholly removed or abandoned. The ship soon entered the beautiful har- bour of Taloo, the romantic character of whose scenery has already been sketched from the description of Captain Wilson, and the Mission- aries by the Duff; for its awful grandeur and deep solitude, as they first entered it, made a pro- found impression upon their minds. Although the THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 431 mountains round this bay are very precipitous and abrupt, and are in many parts wooded almost to the summit, they are not so lofty as the highest mountain in Tahiti ; and the streams that rush from their cliffs, and wind down the valleys, are more like mountain torrents than rivers. Beyond the first range of mountains, and in the interior of the island, is a large and beautiful lake, which is well stocked with fish, besides being a great resort for wild ducks* that are often taken in great numbers on its bosom. This lake is called Tamai, and a seques- tered native village of the same name, sits quietly and hermit-like on its verdant margin. Mr. Ellis was soon enabled to go on shore at Eimeo, where he was greeted by the four Mis- sionaries now on the island, (as well as by several of the chiefs, who had also heard of his arrival), with a cordial and most encouraging welcome. But during the time he was on his long pas- sage, or rather before his leaving Europe, a religious revolution had taken place in these islands ; so unexpected, and so effectual, that the account he now obtained of it, for the first time, filled him with a pleasing astonishment. In 432 W. ELLTS AND OTHERS, IN short, Pomare, the king, from whom he had just parted, had, with several of the principal chiefs, been converted to Christianity ; idolatry had been publicly abolished ; and, both in respect of reli- gion and civilisation, the way had been cleared, within a few short years, for those remarkable proceedings which have since taken place among the islands of the South Sea. These occur- rences, however, were of a nature so interesting in themselves, as well as so important to the people among whom they took place, that a brief sketch of the chief of them may here be acceptable. It will be recollected, that upon the expulsion of King Pomare from Tahiti, and the abandon- ment of the mission there, in consequence of the wars, together with the disasters that happened to the Missionaries in Tongatabu, &c., and their general departure for Port Jackson, — there still remained two in the island of Eimeo, who pre- ferred staying with the king, and trying what could yet be done for the cause of the mission. Here they were left undisturbed in their labours, and had full opportunity of devoting themselves to the instruction, in particular of the king, who THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 433 being an exile, found relief and employment in the exercises of reading, writing, and the study of the things that were brought to his ears by the strangers, in which he took no little pleasure. While staying in this small island, " Whether," says Mr. Ellis, " the melancholy reverses he had experienced, and the depression of spirits conse- quent upon the dissolution of his government, and the destruction of his family, led him to doubt the truth of that idol worship to which he had been devoted, and on which he had inva- riably relied for success in every military, civil, and political enterprise ; or whether the leisure it afforded for contemplation and inquiry, under the influence of these feelings, inclined him to reflect more seriously on the truth of those decla- rations he had often heard respecting the true God, and to consider his present condition as the chastening of that Being whom he had refused to acknowledge, — it is impossible to determine ; but these disastrous events had evidently subdued his spirit, and softened his heart." In short, he first urged the return of such of the Missionaries as still remained at Port Jackson, then received Mr. and Mrs. Ricknell again, who obeyed his wishes and 2 p 434 \V. ELLIS AND OTIIlillS, IN came back to Eimeo, with the greatest affection and even joy, and afterwards began to speak of such things as they were the most earnest in teaching him, in terms which astonished the Missionaries themselves. Other individuals also of the islanders, gave to the Missionaries the same cheering indications 3 and soon after the king publicly professed his belief in the God of the Christians, desiring to be baptised in their faith. He also astonished his own people on an occasion of expected sacrifice to the idol of his island, by publicly disowning the god of the islanders, and in their presence appropri- ating the meat, esteemed sacred, to his own use. When the bystanders, on witnessing this conduct, began to doubt of the sanity of the king, he pub- licly explained the cause of having so acted ; he endeavoured to convince them that their notions of the power of their gods, was a mere imagi- nation of their own ; and in short, that they had hitherto, in the matter of religion, been in a com- plete delusion. All this was very decided, as to the sentiments of the king, at least, and was followed by the usual effects. Many of the chiefs and people took courage, and entering more THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 435 seriously into these matters, ultimately followed the king's example. Others, however, zealously stigmatised and opposed him. During all these promising appearances, the Missionaries seem to have exercised a laudable and wise caution. They neither hastily acceded to the wishes of the king and others, for baptism into the new foith, nor did they slacken in their instruction to qualify fully their converts for so sacred an ordinance. But the result of a series of circumstances connected with this growing and spreading change, such as may be imagined in such a case, was a total revolution in the religion of the whole of the Georgian islands ; their idols were publicly burned and otherwise destroyed, and the little images of wood, abounding in every house, were ultimately treated with as much ridicule and contempt, as they had once been held in sacred veneration. A new place of worship was erected in Eimeo by the express desire of the king ; and a succession of changes took place in the religious and social state of the people, which seemed hardly credible even to the Missionaries who witnessed them, considering the rapidity and brilliancy of these efiFects of religious instruction. 436 \V. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN While this was going on, a deputation of chiefs, from Tahiti, came to invite the king back to resume his government j many of the people there having become tired of the unsettled state of things during his absence. Pomare gladly returned again to his own island ; and although he suffered some opposition, both in civil affairs and in respedt of his new profession of religion, he at length succeeded in quieting the minds of the people j and even himself laboured zealously in the abolition of idol worship, the teaching of Christianity, and the promotion of civilisation among his people. Nor was this effected without a taste of that persecution which has, in all ages, afflicted the small company of those, who giving up their idols of any sort, have professed their belief in the christian faith. Scorn, contempt, and the abandonment of friends, were not the only troubles suffered on account of the new faith; an interesting and intelligent native was shot at and wounded, and narrowly escaped with his life, being marked out by the priests of the old religion as a sacrifice to their idols, because of his having embraced Christianity 3 and another was surprised and murdered, and carried to the idol temple. THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 437 Although for a short time, therefore, or rather at several periods, during the progress of these remarkable changes, "'persecution raged amid the Elysian bowers of Tahiti and Eimeo, as much as ever it had done in the valleys of Piedmont, or the metropolis of the Roman Empire," as Mr. Ellis flourishingly says ; yet in the course of two or three short years, advantages were gained for religion and humanity in these islands, which are unparalleled, perhaps, in the history of Missionary success in latter times. Before the expiration of the year 1814, the small number of Missionaries now labouring in Eimeo, were attended by about three hundred scholars ; upwards of two hundred adults had given in their names as professors ot Christianity, and the progressing reformation had made its way with extraordinary effect into the neighbouring islands of Huahine, Raiatea, and Sir Charles Sanders' island, besides the effects pro- duced in the larger island of Tahiti. In the year 1815, a pleasing example was fur- nished, at a public entertainment in Eimeo, of the progressing effects of this extensive reformation in the islands of the South Sea. Pomare Vahine, daughter of the King of Raiatea, and sister of the 2 p ^2 438 W. F.LLIS AND OTHERS, IN Queen of Tahiti, wife of Pomare, having paid a visit to this island, on her way to Tahiti, where she was going to see her sister, — a grand entertain- ment was prepared for her by the native chiefs of Eimeo. A large quantity of food of different kinds having been dressed, it was usual that it should first be offered to the idols, as mentioned in the former case with Pomare. While the people looked on, expecting the priests to select the offering, one of Vahine's attendants, being a convert to Christianity, came forward, and un- covering his head, in an audible voice, addressed the God of Heaven with thanksgiving and ac- knowledgment for this food. The multitude witnessed this scene with astonishment j but no opposition was offered, and the food being now considered as offered to the God of the Mission- aries, and not to their own idols, no one dared to suggest an alteration, and the stranger lady acquiesced in the bold measure of her attendant. TUL SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 439 CHAPTER ill. Mr. Ellis sails to the district of Afaraitu— Description of a Tahi- tian dinner— Of the valleys of Afaraitu— Forming of a Mission- ary Station there, and setting up of a Printing Press— Astonish- ment and crowding of the Natives at the first working of the Press— Printing and Book-binding— Affecting eagerness of the People for Books — Extensive and humanising Effects of the Introduction of Christianity. It was while matters were in this state, and even more advanced than we have yet related, that Mr. Ellis landed in the island of Eimeo. In the course of the first week of his stay amongst his rejoicing brethren, he made several excursions into the interior of the district. He found the soil, in the level parts of the valleys in particular, to consist of a rich vegetable mould, with a small portion of alluvial, which seemed to have been washed down from the surrounding hills. He also saw several plantations well stocked with the several produc- tions of the island, but want of cultivation had rendered some portion of the lowland, rank with 440 W. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN its own luxuriance, and thickly covered with long grass and brushwood. He next accompanied one of the Missionaries on a canoe voyage to another district of the island, lying about twenty miles distant from the settlement. Two natives paddled their canoe, and they skimmed lightly along the smooth water that lay within the coral reef before men- tioned. When they had reached a place called Moru, they landed and visited a friendly chief, who, as usual, set before them an abundant refreshment, which, being served up in the true Tahitian style, and the first native meal our tra- veller had eaten on the island, he observed very minutely how it was conducted. " When the food was ready," he says, " we were requested to seat ourselves on the dry grass that covered the floor of the house. A number of the broad leaves of the purau (hibiscus tileaceus), having the stalks plucked off close to the leaf, were then spread on the ground, in two or three successive layers, with the downy or under side upwards, and two or three were handed by a servant to each individual, instead of a plate. By the side of these vegetable plates, a small cocoa-nut shell of THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 441 salt water was placed for each person. Large quantities of fine large bread-fruit, roasted on hot stones, were now brought in, and a number of fish that had been wrapped in plaintain leaves, and broiled on the embers, were placed beside them. A bread-fruit and a fish was handed to each individual, and, having implored a blessing, we began to eat, dipping every mouthful of bread- fruit, or fish, into the small vessel of salt water, without which, it would, to the natives, have been unsavoury and tasteless. I opened the leaves, and found the fish nearly broiled, and, imitating the practice of those around me, dipped several of the first pieces I took into the dish placed by my side : but there was a bitterness in the sea water which rendered it rather unpalatable -, I therefore dispensed with the further use of it, and finished my meal with the bread-fruit and fish." The same practice of " serving up" salt water to their food, is mentioned by Mr. Puckey in the journal of his tour round Tahiti many years previous. That Missionary traveller, who never omits to mention where and when he was treated with " a comfortable meal," found himself much disappointed and almost poisoned at one time, on 442 W. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN finding at one part of his journey a most savoury roast goose served up to him with salt water for sauce, which was not at all suited to his taste, no more than the same liquid condiment was to that of Mr. Ellis on this occasion. It is remarkable that the natives found out or imitated a method of distilling ardent spirits from certain roots, as we shall hereafter have occasion to notice, before they had any notion of the simple art of making salt. Resuming their journey about two in the after- noon, the Missionaries came about sun-set to the district called Afaraitu, which is on the eastern side of the island, and lies opposite to the district of Aheturu in the island of Tahiti, before alluded to. This beautiful spot, which became afterwards an important Missionary station, seems to have been very populous 5 for their arrival, Mr. EUis says, created no small stir among the people. On examining the district next morning, they were delighted with its fertility, extent, and resources. It is described as comprising two vallies, or rather one large valley partially divided by a narrow hilly ridge, extending from the mountains, in the interior towards the shore. The same fertility, richness, and luxuriant verdure found in the finest THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 443 portions of this and the other ishmds, was abund- antly displayed here j trees and shrubberies rising green and varigated to the very summits of the mountains. " Several broad cascades," says Mr. EUis, " flowed in silver streams down the sides of the mountains, and, broken occasionally by a jutting rock, presented their sparkly waters in beautiful contrast with the rich and dark foliage of the stately trees, and the flowering shrubs that bordered their course." Well might the intelli- gent Missionary, who had an eye for such beauty, and a heart to feel its impression, become a little flowery himself in his language, when describing such glorious scenery. Not to dwell u|)on the further description of this charming district, the Missionaries soon saw its advantages for a second settlement. The land between the shore and the mountains was not swampy and luxuriant only, like some other parts, but high, healthy, and beautiful. An elliptical indentation of the shore at the mouth of the valley, and an opening in the coral reef in front, formed a convenient bay for small vessels, and " a picturesque little coral island, adorned with two or three clumps of hibiscus and cocoa- 444 W. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN nut trees," lay nearly across the mouth of the bay, which added both to the security and beauty of the maritime portion of the district. Added to all this, and to the evident salubrity of the air in this neighbourhood, was an abundance of the pro- ductions of nature all round ; and a sweet and convenient stream of water wound down the valley and discharged itself into the sea at the bottom of the little bay. The exploring Mission- aries perceiving all these advantages for their proposed settlement, lost no time in waiting on the principal chiefs of the neighbourhood upon the business, who were quite pleased with the idea suggested, and promised every assistance in the erection of the necessary houses. By this time the progress of the reformation in the islands was so extensive that our travellers were only restrained from forming new settle- ments and prosecuting new plans with regard to the other islands, by the smallness of their pre- sent number, and the consideration of the vessels which they had begun to build being as yet far from finished for want of hands. Mr. Ellis hav- ing, however, brought with him a printing press and types from the mother country, aud having THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 445 himself learned the art of printing while in Enffland, at the request of the directors of the London Society, it was soon decided by the Missionaries, that in order to avail thentiselves of the present disposition of the people, they should have their printing press set up in this newly surveyed district of Afaraitu, as soon as they could erect a suitable building. In this work. King Pom are, now at Tahiti, took a most cordial and decided interest. He wrote a letter to the chief of the district, requesting him zealously to assist the Missionaries in their under- taking J and in a few weeks came himself to the island, in order to hasten forward the work. Dif- ferent parties of the natives were, for this purpose, formed by his direction j one attending to the building of the printing office, and another labouring at the erection of a house for Mr. Ellis. These houses were built of wood, in the manner usual in this island ; that is — the sides formed by upright posts, about three feet apart, the in- terstices filled up with a wattled matting, and in some places left quite open ; while rafters and cross beams uphold the roof, which is formed of the prepared leaves of the pandanas and very 2 Q 446 W. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN ingeniously wrought over a matting. A wall, or well formed paling, usually surrounds the houses, leaving a court of considerable extent, which is often paved with black or party-coloured pebble stones, and is usually kept smooth and clean. When the printing office was nearly complete, the Missionaries finished it, not only by making a floor chiefly of wood, that is, with the trunks of trees split in two, and boarding the sides of the house with boards of their own cutting ; but by placing in it two or three windows of glass, much to the admiration of the natives. But the printing press was the great object of the admiring curiosity of these people. The fame of this wonderful machine had spread over all Eimeo, and also several of the neighbouring islands J and numbers of the people, from all parts round, flocked to the spot, as well to get a sight of it, as to attend the religious instructions of the Missionaries. It was not more than three months after Mr. ElHs and his friends had paid their first visit to Afaraitu, before the house was ready, and the press set up ; and the king having been informed of the fact, by his own desire he came, accompanied by a body of his most favourite THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 447 chiefs, and followed by a large concourse of people, to witness the first operations of the famous machine. He entered the building with his chiefs only, but the windows of it required to be screened, to pre- vent the annoyance of the eager multitude. It was proposed that the king should put together the first letters with his own hand. The composing stick was given to him for this purpose, and never did a king feel so proud of being a printer. By the direction of Mr. Ellis, he filled the stick out of the boxes, with the large letters of the alphabet; for they were now about setting up the first sheet of a spelling-book. As he knew the alphabet, he next set in order the small let- ters, and when the first page was finished, he looked with wonder upon the eflPects of his own talents at printing. The others having, while the king looked on, put together sufficient matter to make a form, on one side of a sheet, he was next ordered to ink the types. He took the ink balls from Mr. Ellis, and struck the face of the letters three times. This was a feat ; but what was next to be done ? The sheet was laid on the parch- ment, and covered down over the types. Now 448 W. ELLIS AND OTIIEUS, IN came the grand coup de main. The king was directed to pull the handle of the press ; he pulled it vigorously -, and when the covering was lifted up, the chiefs and attendants pressed forward to see what their monarch had effected. When they beheld the letters black, newly impressed, and well defined, there was a general expression of wonder and delight. His Majesty repeated the act ', and now, showing one of the sheets to the crowd without, when they saw what he had produced from this marvellous machine, " they raised," as we are told, " one general shout of astonishment and joy." He continued, as well as the crowd, to watch the progress of printing, the whole of the day, and for several days after this, paid much attention to the process so interesting to all. A spelling-book in the Tahitian language being most needed, this was the first volume printed on the island. The king in the course of his studies in this new art, was engaged in counting several of the letters as they were used j and evinced much surprise at finding, that in sixteen pages of the spelling-book, the letter a was used above five thousand times. A Tahitian catechism was tfie THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 449 next book printed, of which between two and three thousand were thrown off 3 and next after this, a translation of St. Luke's Gospel into the Tahitian, prepared by Mr. Nott, one of the ori- ginal Missionaries, was put to press. Before the first sheet of this latter work was printed, a new arrival from England gladdened the labourers in this work ; namely the brig Active, bringing an accession to their strength of not less than six new Missionaries, at the very time when they were most required. The same vessel brought also a supply of printing paper sent by the Bible Society, than which hardly any thing could have been more seasonable. Mr. Crook, who it will be remembered was the Missionary that several years before was left alone upon one of the Marquesan islands, gave Mr. Ellis the greatest assistance in this work ; and having instructed two of the natives to per- form the more laborious parts, particularly the working of the press, these men soon became good workmen, and received regular wages for their business. The curiosity of the natives to see this machine, that made *' the speaking paper," was unbounded. None but the king and 2 Q 2 450 W. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN chiefs were admitted with the workmen into the building j but the crowd without was immense, and increased as the work proceeded. The print- ing press became a matter of universal conversa- tion, and great multitudes came from the adjacent islands, and all the neighbouring districts, to catch a glimpse of any thing connected with this astonishing machine. The excitement manifested, says Mr. Ellis, " frequently resembled that with which the people of England would hasten to witness, for the first time, the ascent of a balloon, or the movement of a steam carriage. So great," he adds, " was the influx of strangers, that for several weeks before the first portion of the Scriptures was finished, the district of Afaraitu resembled a public fair. The beach was lined with canoes from distant parts of Eimeo and other islands ; the houses of the inhabitants were thronged, and small parties had erected their temporary encampments in every direction. The school, during the week, and chapel on the sabbath, though capable of contain- ing six hundred persons, were found too small for those who sought admittance." Those who got near enough, peeped through THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 451 every crevice of the building, for the windows could hardly be got at, in order to obtain a sight of the press, and the marvellous work that was going on ; whilst involuntary exclamations were often heard from them, in their admiration of British skill and knowledge. ** The printing- office," continues Mr. Ellis, " was daily crowded by the strangers, who thronged the doors, &c., in such numbers, as to climb upon each other's backs, or on the sides of the windows, so as frequently to darken the place. The house had been in- closed with a fence five or six feet high j but this, instead of presenting an obstacle to the gra- tification of their curiosity, was converted into a means of facilitating it ; numbers were con- stantly seen sitting on the top of the raihng, whereby they were able to look over the heads of their companions who were round the win- dows." Some stranger people having come to Eimeo, all the way from the pearl islands, a small cluster of little more than coral rocks, lying at a con- siderable distance north-east of Tahiti, had the address to get among the king's train, and were by him hospitably treated with a near ins[)cction 452 W. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN of the press. When admitted into the print- ing-office, and when they beheld the machine worked by a native printer, '' their surprise and astonishment were truly affecting. They were some time before they would approach very near, and appeared at a loss whether to consider it an animal or a machine," Mr. Ellis was able to converse with these strangers, who in- formed him that they also had abandoned the worship of idols, which they said were only evil spirits who had done them no good j and they, as well as the other tribes who waited without, expressed the most eager desire to be supplied with the spelling-books and scriptures, which the Missionaries were printing. Having brought out with them to these islands the presses used by bookbinders also, they now set them up, and prepared to bind the books that they had printed. This process, when com- menced, was a new object of wonder to the na- tives. A copy of the spelUng-book they had half-bound in red morocco, which, as the first fruits of their labours, they presented to the king j and his satisfaction at this, as his Majesty was now somewhat of a learned person, was evi- THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 453 dently very great. Next, the queen, and chiefs, were supplied ; but the demand was so great, that some circumspection was necessary in the distribution of the means of knowledge. The materials for binding books which had been brought from England, were soon exhausted j but the native cloth (which is made from the bark of a tree) was made to supply the deficiency, and this being laid together in many folds, and pressed, became a tolerably good substitute for leather. Some of the natives having quickly learned the art of binding books in their simple manner were now overwhelmed with business, and found their new calling a very profitable trade. So great, however, was the quantity of people to be supplied, that parties of natives who had come in their canoes from the neighbouring islands, solely for the purpose of procuring copies of the spelling-books, or gospel, (which was next printed), often waited five or six weeks for them, rather than go away without. Sometimes these simple people came with bundles of letters from their friends, ordering " the word of Luke," or other books ; the letters being written on the 454 W. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN plantain leaf, which was rolled up like a scroll, and may have appeared like the ancient papyrus of the Jews or Egyptians. The spelling books and similar works had been hitherto distributed gratuitously among the peo- ple ; but when Luke's Gospel was printed, it was thought expedient to take a price for the book, which was generally paid in cocoa-nut oil. It was almost affecting, we are told, to see the eagerness with which these poor islanders came from afar, in their light canoes, for gospel books ; and as they drew near the shore, where the Mis- sionary house stood, if any one appeared in sight to receive them, their practice was to hold up their hands simultaneously, carrying the bamboo canes filled with cocoa-nut oil, and to shout Te parua na Liika, that is. The word of Luke -, while they showed, triumphantly, that they had the means of paying for it. " Often," says Mr. Ellis, " when standing at my door, which was but a short distance from the sea-beach, as I have gazed on the varied beauties of the rich and glowing landscape, and the truly picturesque appearance of the island of Tahiti, fourteen or eighteen miles distant, the scene has been enli- THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 455 vened by the light and nautilus-like sail of the buoyant canoes ;" seen in all the different degrees of size and distinctness as they floated on the shining bosom of the waters ; from the white speck in the far horizon, until they came skim- ming along within the little bay, and lowered their sail, and set up their shout for that word of divine truth, which was now made known in the charming isles of the Pacific ocean. Previous to this time, and in consequence of the religious revolution in these islands, a change had been effected in the state of domestic society, which is so interesting as to deserve particular observation here. It had been one of the institutes of their idolatry, and was in consequence a sacred and inviolate custom in all the Georgian islands, that the females of any household should not eat with the males ; that a wife could not eat with her husband, nor a daughter with her father ; nor were they even allowed to cook their victuals at the same fire with the men, nor yet ke^p their food in the same place appointed for the males. The poor females, all over these islands, prepared and eat their victuals in lonely solitude, and thus all parties lost that comfort and pleasure, which 456 W. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN is enjoyed by families meeting together at their social meal. Many circumstances grew out of this cruel arrangement, extremely painful to reflect upon, and degrading to the females, considering the means of enjoyment which these delightful islands afforded ; but all this was changed by the happy event of the propagation of the mild and elevat- ing principles of Christianity in these islands, which had hitherto been literally the habitations of horrid cruelty. The idols Oro and Tane, to whom so many public and private immolations had been made, both of human life, of happiness, and of peace, had no sooner been publicly burned in Tahiti, as before stated, than the wife was restored to the full society of her husband, the daughter could eat and drink in her father's pre- sence, domestic comfort and intercourse was every where promoted, and parents and children could rejoice together in the unspeakable blessings of a humane religion. But one of the greatest triumphs achieved by Christianity, and by the Missionaries, as the instruments of this great revolution, was the total abolition of the horrid crime of infanticide. THE SOUTH Sr.A ISLANDS. 457 by which the hands of parents had been pol- luted with blood for ages previous, and which had of late thinned their population almost to a remnant. The extent to which the practice of this crime had long been carried, in the Georgian islands, is shocking to think of, and is too painful a subject to be dwelt upon here. The bare fact of any consideration being able to prevail over a mother's feelings, or a father's pride and hope in his offspring, so as to induce them to destroy with their own hands, as was often done, the struggling infant, whose little breast but newly palpitated with the warm life which had been bestowed upon it by its Creator, may show what horrors can be perpetrated by the debasing influence of idolatrous superstition. Suffice it to observe, that it is no light boast of the friends of benevolence, and of Missionary efforts, to be able to say, that it was Christianity and Missionary zeal that effected the abolition of this shocking practice, and introduced family comfort, humanity, and peace, as well as the elements of pure and undefiled religion, among the interesting barbarians of the South Sea. 2 R 458 W. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN CHAPTER IV. Changes effected in regard to the honesty of the people— Departure of Mr. Ellis and others from Eimeo, and arrival at Huahine — Re- ception by the Natives, and first night on the Island — Formation of a Native Missionary Society in Eimeo— Meeting and interest- ing proceedings at the institution of the Society. Another remarkable effect of the introduction of Christianity, and habits of civilisation into those islands, was exhibited in the extraordinary honesty of the people, while the Missionaries resided in Eimeo. An Enghsh servant, indeed, whom they had hired at Port Jackson, and brought with them, robbed them of linen and clothing to some amount 5 but as for the natives, the pilfering disposition which they had exhibited at Tahiti and Tongatabu seemed to have entirely left them, so that the confidence of the Missionaries i n their honesty became so great, that the door of THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 459 the printing premises was left without lock or bolt. Its simple fastening could have been unloosed at any time by a native introducing his hand be- tween the timbers, and the door itself sometimes remained open all night. Notwithstanding the temptations thus presented to a rude people, strongly influenced even by curiosity; during a year and a-half that the Missionaries resided at Afaraitu, Mr. Ellis does not know of a single article having been missed, excepting what was clearly stolen by the Englishman. A considerable reinforcement of Missionaries having arrived from England, in 1817, when the printing of the books had been nearly finished, it was thought expedient to make arrangements for re-occupying the original station at Tahiti, and also for establishing a new settlement in the island of Huahine, the most windward of that group called the Society Islands. Considering it best, however, not to divide the Missionaries, it was resolved to remove the printing press, and the whole estabHshment at present settled at Afaraitu, to that island. Accordingly, on the iSth of June, 1818, Mr. Ellis and his wife, with three other Missionaries 460 AV. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN and their wives, embarked along with their goods and cattle for the new island. The same vivid ideas of the beauty of these islands, and clear effect of this line climate, impressed them as they sailed along ; and at length they entered the bay of Tarre, and had a view of the delightful district of that name. The mountains were pic- turesque, but not so lofty as those of some other of the islands. Two streams, of different sizes, came winding down from the valleys under the low ridges of the high land, and fell both into the same harbour. " The lower hills at the time of our arrival," says the Missionary, " were clothed with verdure, and the mountains in the centre of the island, whose summits appeared to penetrate the clouds, were often entirely covered with trees. All was rich and luxuriant in vege- tation, but it was the richness and luxuriance of a wilderness 3 scarcely a trace of human culture could be perceived." Among this rich wilder- ness a few native houses were visible, and a few light canoes skimmed thinly along the bosom of the bay, while the indolent natives might occa- sionally be seen walking leisurely along under the graceful shade of the spreading trees. " They THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 461 were," to quote again the feeling description of the Missionary, " the rude untutored tenants of the place ; their appearance and their actions were in perfect keeping with the scenes of wild- ness by which they were surrounded. The only clothing most of them wore, was a girdle of cloth bound loosely round the waist, and a shade of cocoa-nut leaves over their foreheads. Not- withstanding this, it was impossible to behold, without emotion, either the scenery or the inha- bitants." When the Missionaries landed, two houses at some distance from each other were appropriated ^ for their immediate lodging. They had brought with them a pair of cattle which had originally been imported from New South Wales, as also a young calf and two or three milch goats. Having fastened their animals to the neighbouring trees, they settled their boxes and trunks as well as they could ; and while Mr. Ellis's child played on the lap of its nurse, one of the natives of Eimeo and another child played about on the long grass near the house. The natives crowded round them ; as usual full of curiosity j and receiving a present of bread fruit and fish from the 2 R 2 462 AV. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN hospitable native chiefs, a youth came forward out of the crowd, who gazed on them, and gene- rously offered his services as cook of the viands. The young man's offer being readily accepted, fixing two large stones stones in the ground for a fire place, and gathering a bundle of sticks from the adjacent bushes, he soon lighted a fire between the stones. Upon these he set the tea- kettle of the Missionaries and made them teaj proceeding also to fry his fish and to roast his bread-fruit and plantains, what between these and some cocoa-nut milk, and the tea, he was soon able to set before the strangers *'a comfortable meal," a treat which the Missionaries by no means despised. The house in which they were placed being an open one, Mr. Ellis and his wife had some trouble in settling themselves for the night. They formed a bed room by fastening sheets of native cloth upon four posts, which the natives cut down for them, and now they prepared to trim their even- ing lamp. The simplicity of this utensil is worthy of notice. Breaking a cocoa-nut into two, they took one end and filled it with the oil of the same vegetable ; then fixing in the kernal THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 463 at the bottom of this natural cup, the stem of a leaf wrapped round with a little native cotton- wool, they lighted this simple wick, and the lamp burned well and brightly when kept steady and sheltered from the wind. These were the sort of lamps which the Missionaries used for several years. The Missionaries lay this night in their open habitation, so that the land breeze from the moun- tains extinguished their lamp, and shook the sheeted walls which they had hung up for shelter. The roar of the surf which rolled heavily along the whole sweep of the beach, mixing with their slumbers on this strange and wild shore, had a solemn, yet somewhat soothing effect. They slept, however, soundly, the children having been nestled among the boxes and baggage, and rose refreshed on the next day. Though they had occasionally heard the dogs and pigs of the island, as well as the natives, lingering about them during the night, not the slightest depredation was com- mitted upon their goods, and they felt themselves confident in the success of their future exertions. The mitives of this island were, however, as yet, much behind those they had left in general improve- 464 \V. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN ment. But the king here had long before followed the example of the other islands 3 and by ordering the idols to be publicly burnt, had thus left a readily found opening for the introduction of that religion, which was now the great object of interest amongst the islanders of the neigh- bourhood. While Mr. Ellis and his friends were proceed- ing in the formation of this new settlement, they were invited to the original station at Eimeo, to take part in a proceeding which had been for some time in agitation, with Pomare, the converted King of Tahiti, and his chiefs 5 and which was one of the most important in its event, perhaps of any recorded in Missionary history. This was no other than the establishment of a native Mis- sionary Society. A measure of this kind seems, at first sight, to have an appearance of absurdity, among a people hardly themselves converted, and who had scarcely any trade and no money -, con- tributions and funds being the means and sinews of any social enterprise. " Do you think," said Pomare, to one of his chiefs, *' you could collect five bamboo canes of oil in a year ? and could you appropriate so much towards sending the The south sea islands. 465 word of God to the heathens 9" The chiefs thought they could make a collection, and thus the business was half done already, The tinder of money-collecting was now hghted, and the other chiefs were not behind in undertaking to furnish their quota of marketable oil. The Mis- sionaries had suggested, and now urged on the matter, and the 13th of May, 1818, the same day that the anniverary meeting was held in England, was appointed for the formation of an Auxiliarij Society in Tahiti ; but the meeting was to take place at the Missionary station in Eimeo, and Mr. Ellis bestows upon it his usual luxury of description. The chiefs and people having been all assem- bled, not only from the several districts of Eimeo, but many strangers and chiefs from Tahiti, headed by King Pomare in person, with his queen and the chief women of the islands ; the day was begun by separate meetings of the English and the natives, who worshipped among themselves in their several languages. Finding, on both parties meeting, the multitude so great that the chapel would only serve as an embarrassment, it was agreed to hold their assembly in the open 466 W. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN air. " Three or four hundred yards from the chapel," says Mr. Ellis, '' there was a beautiful grove. To this spot it was proposed to adjourn, and thither the natives immediately repaired, seating themselves on the ground under the cocoa nut trees. At three o'clock we walked to the grove, and on entering it we beheld one of the most imposing and delightful spectacles I think I ever witnessed in the islands. The sky was clear, the smooth surface of the ocean rippled with the cool and stirring breezes," &c., &c. In short, the sight of a multitude of these amiable islanders, seated in order under one of the rich groves in the islands ; the females clad in beautifully white native cloth, with yellow leaf shades or bonnets, covering their glossy black hair, which yet hung gracefully down over their white dresses ; the chiefs also in native costume, and many wearing European costume ; and this vast and picturesque company, contrasting in appearance with the black clothes and white faces of the few Missionaries, with King Pomare in the midst, accompanied by his secretary, and all seated round the cylindrical trunk of a large and remarkable looking cocoa-nut tree, — must THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 467 have been a scene peculiarly calculated to fix itself on the recollection of all who were so for- tunate as to be present that day. Poraare, the black king, was chairman in the strictest sense, for a large arm chair had been provided for the occasion, and he having long ago learned to sit like a christian, took his station with the utmost dignity j being dressed " in a fine yel- low tiputa," or robe, with a scarlet flower or figure on his left breast, to serve for the kingly insignia of a star. His majesty was supported on the right hand by the chief of Papara, and on the left by Upaparu, his principal secretary. It is evident from the Missionaries' graphic descrip- tion of this day's set out, that the king was an apt scholar in other matters besides mere religion. The hymn, with which the proceedings com- menced,— sung as it was by nearly the whole of the people in this grove, — must have had a very grand and serious effect. The service was con- ducted by Mr. Nott, one of the oldest and most meritorious of the Missionaries, who, coming originally to these islands with the Duff, was one of the two who staid with the king when the whole bodv fled to Port Jackson. Mr. Nott, in 46S W. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN his address^ began judiciously, by referring the multitude to the bondage and ignorance con- nected with that idolatry, from which they had lately been rescued ; and when he dwelt upon the dark features and insane cruelties of their former superstition, the assembly seemed, by their anxiously- impressed feelings, to respond in their hearts to the shocking picture drawn by the Missionary. The contrast he drew may be easily imagined ; and when, in drawing to a close, he requested that all who approved the proposal of a mission to their still unbelieving- neighbours, should hold up their right hands, " two or three thousand naked arms," says Mr. Ellis, " were simultaneously elevated from the multitude assembled under the cocoa-nut grove, presenting a spectacle no less imposing and affecting than it was picturesque and new." The necessary business of reading regulations, and choosing a Treasurer and Secretaries for the Society, was next transacted, as if the meeting had taken place in London ; and the termination of this interesting day, we think it best to give in Mr. Ellis's own pleasing and imaginative manner. " By this time," says he, " the shades THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 469 of the evening began to gather round us, and the sun was just hidden by the distant wave of the horizon, when the king rose from his chair, and the chiefs and people retired to their dwel- hngs, under feelings of high excitement and satisfation. There was so much rural beauty and subdued quietude in the scene, and so much that was novel and striking in the appearance of the people, as well as momentous and delightful in the object for which they had been convened, that it was altogether one of the rjiost interesting meetings I ever attended." 2s 470 W. ELLIS AND OTHF.RS, TN CHAPTER V. Missionary Vessel built at Eimeo — The Launch— Voyage of Mr. Ellis to Raiatea, and hospitality of the Natives— Description of a district of Raiatea, with the ruins of an Idol Temple — Arrival at the Missionary Station — General Examination of School Children —Dinner in the Grove— Procession, and Speech of an aged Chief. Before we proceed to follow Mr. Ellis in his farther travels and voyages among these islands, it may be proper to mention, that when he arrived first in Eimeo, he found the other Mis- sionaries engaged in building a vessel of their own, which should serve them in their excursions among the islands, or go, if needful, as far as Port Jackson. In this plan, Pomare, the king, cordially joined j even finding the materials, as far as the islands could supply them, and giving THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 471 Otherwise much assistance. It was not, how- ever, until the arrival of the new supply of Missionaries, that there were found to be hands sufficient to finish it -, but they, setting to work after coming to the island, it was soon com- pleted, and on the 7th December, 1817, was intended to be launched with all the honours. On the day appointed, crowds were gathered from all quarters to witness the launching and the naming of so great a vessel, for the ship (how she was rigged Mr. Ellis has not informed us) was of seventy tons' burden, and the king himself was to give her her name, in form and manner such as the natives had never witnessed. All things being ready, and" strong ropes passed round the vessel, by which she was to be hauled forward into the water, the wedges were knocked away by the carpenters, but still the vessel did not move. The king, who stood in readiness with a bottle of wine in his hand, shouted to the natives to pull away, while one of his orators, or bards, who was perched upon a rock near, sang a launching song with great emphasis, as if his own violent gesticulations could assist in moving the ship. The natives pulled and the man sung and shouted, but 472 W. ELLIS AND OTHERS^ IN Still the vessel moved not over the rollers along which she should have slid into the sea. At length, as they persevered in hauling, she began to move, and seemed steadily riding forth to meet the wave, amid the reiterated shouts of the delighted people. Pomare had, as we said, been stationed at the edge of the beach, and just as the ship was entering the water, he, as he had been instructed, threw the bottle of wine at her bows, pronouncing her name, and wishing her prosperity, in an audible voice. This operation, the breaking of the bottle, the spilling of the wine, and the scattering of the pieces of broken glass, so astonished the islanders who were on the side where it was done, that ceasing suddenly, they stood and gazed, while those on the contrary side continued to pull j when, in an instant, the vessel heeled over and fell on her beam-ends, to the great consternation of the shouting multitude. This was a sad disaster, although no lives were lost, for it destroyed the eclat of the launch, and greatly damped the spirits, for a time, of all concerned. However, every effort was employed to set her up again, and by exerting their united strength, by the afternoon of the same day she was quite righted, and the Pacific received, THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 473 at length, the Missionary ship, amidst the shouts of the multitude, who clad the shores of the bay. It was in this vessel that Mr. Ellis and his com- panions, with their baggage, were carried to their new station at Huahine j but it was in one much smaller that he soon after, having completed the necessary buildings in this island, proposed to pay a visit to the island of Raiatea, where a Missionary station had been placed sometime before. This island was not more than thirty miles distant from Huahine, and setting sail one morn- ing at nine o'clock, the Missionary expected to reach it long before the evening. The promising morning turned soon, however, into a lowering day. A boisterous and threatening wind arose, which continuing the whole of the day, their pas- sage in the small boat was both disagreeable and dangerous : the storm had long hid all the shores around from their view, and it was near midnight before they again made the land, which for- tunately turned out to be one part of Raiatea, to which they were bound. Having at length landed on the beach, weary and drenched, they found some houses of the natives, where the people 474 W. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN readily roused themselves to entertain and com* fort them, and having rested for the night, the travellers went out to view that part of the island on which they had happened to land. They found this district of Raiatea remarkably well cul- tivated, the land being rich and good, and large gar- dens formed by the natives, which were well stocked with the most valuable roots and vegetables, indigenous to these islands. This was, in fact, a place of celebrity in the whole neighbourhood, it being the usual residence of the king and his family, and particularly from its being the spot where one of the most remarkable marais, or temples, for idol worship, in all this group, was situated. When Mr. Ellis and his friend came to view this temple, they found its ruins like the one already described in Tahiti, under the head of the First Voyage of the Duff 3 but the sacrifices to the God Oro, which had taken place here, seem to have been more sanguinary than usual -, for the spot was surrounded with human as well as other bones, lying scattered around in heaps j and, to their horror, the Missionaries found a large inclosure, the walls of which were formed THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 475 entirely of human skulls ; but these had princi- pally or entirely belonged to those who were slain in battle 3 for the natives were not so cruel at any time as to offer living sacrifices to their idols, or to kill men before them. Like all similar erec- tions, this idol temple was situated in the midst of a grove of beautiful trees. This small, but picturesque island, is, though longer in shape, not unlike the celebrated rock of Gibraltar 3 a lofty natural fort, rising in the interior near the one end, which the natives resort to in seasons of war 3 and which, although he gives no particular description of it, Mr. Ellis informs us might, with a little trouble, be made impregnable, at least against any ordinary be- sieging engines. This peculiar rock is called by the natives a par^, and it was here that, it will be remembered, the Tahitian rebels resisted all the power of King Pomare, aided by the skill of Capt. Bishop and twenty-four other Englishmen, who had brought with them a brass four pounder. This single small cannon was never used, being only like a pop-gun, when brought before this magnificent and commanding rock. Departing from this district in the afternoon. 476 W. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN the travellers enjoyed a pleasant sail within the reef, along the eastern shore, on their way to the Missionary station at the other end of the island. The scenery they passed was rich and romantic as usual 3 and the cordial welcome of their friends and fellow labourers, made their voyage terminate delightfully. The state of the Mission and of the schools for teaching the natives, were such as to be extremely satisfactory to the visitors. In addition to learning to read and spell in their own tongue, the natives had been taught to sing translations of many psalms and hymns, to which the tunes used in England had been fitted, in a very pleasing and melodious manner. To hear the simple natives of the South Sea chanting the solemn melody of the old hundredth psalm, or warbling the soul of music and of pathos in the hymn of the Sicilian mariners, must certainly have been singularly affecting. The annual exa- minations of these schools was, as Mr. Ellis says, a festivity most exhilarating and interesting. They were held in the chapel of the station, and were closed by an entertainment provided by the chiefs, for the whole of the children, on a rising ground, in the vicinity of the governor's house. THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 477 Here, being followed by the multitude of their parents and friends, with the teachers, not less than three hundred boys, and two hundred girls, sat down on the grass, to a plentiful repast, on the occasion when Mr Ellis was present. In the centre, between the rows of boys and girls, tables were spread for the chiefs, as well as for the pa- rents and friends of the children, in the style and manner of out-door festivity in England. The food was carved, and handed to the children, who sat on the grass on either side, headed by their teachers. Who could have supposed, in Captain Cook's time, that such a spectacle as this would have been witnessed in the islands of the South Sea? A short address from Mr. Ellis closed the enter- tainment ; after which the whole stood up around, and sung a hymn. Proceeding back in proces- sion to the various schools, the youths carried banners of different colours to render the spectacle more imposing, upon which were various inscrip- tions and devices, dictated by the Missionaries. One of these bore an inscription which we think characteristic J besides the white doves and olive branches on some of the others, on a banner of 478 W. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN white native cloth was impressed, in large letters of scarlet dye, the single word " Hosanna !" Such meetings as these were certainly well cal- culated to aflfect the imaginations, and interest the feelings of an amiably disposed people, who had only lately emerged from a state of barbarism and idolatry. At another meeting, which was held in 1824, — with picturesque effect, upon a peninsula or pier jutting into the sea, — six hundred children assembled and were feasted by their parents. A consideration, con- nected with such a spectacle, is striking and affecting. From the former prevalence of infanti- cide, probably not one-fourth of the children, now contemplated by their delighted parents, would, but for the influence of Christianity, ever have been left in existence. This consideration was on this occasion most impressively alluded to by an aged chief, who, after witnessing the examination of the children held in the chapel, arose overpower- ed by his feelings, and addressed the king who was present, and the assembled multitude, to this effect. '' I was a mighty chief j the spot on which we are now assembled was by me made sacred for myself and family 3 large was my family, but I THE SOUTH SKA ISLANDS. 479 alone remain. They are all gone, and my heart now longs for them, but I shall see them no more. I knew not then the good word that I am now spared to hear. I am the father of nineteen children, all of whom I murdered ! Had they been spared, they would now be men and women, learning and hearing what I hear this day. But no one then stayed my hand, or said to me, spare them. Now my heart is repenting — is weeping for my children, because they are gone for ever !" Such a speech as this can hardly be read even now without tears j as we fancy the venerable chief weeping over his murdered infants, in the midst of this interesting assembly. He surveyed around him hundreds of promising children, who, instead of being hidden away in darkness and in death, before the lamp of life was fairly lighted, were now worshipping Him who made the glad- dening sun to shine over their heads, and were enjoying a happy existence in the Elysian islands of the South Sea. 4S0 W. El, LIS AND OTHERS, IN CHAPTER VI. General Improvement of the Islanders in the Art of Building — Schools and Chapels built in Huahine and Raiatea— Description of the Royal Mission Chapel in Tahiti— Mr. Ellis's Voyage to Tahiti and Eimeo— A night Scene at Sea— Sketch of the Astrono- mical Notions of the Islanders. Among the improvements of this people in the arts and in civilisation, which it is next our busi- ness to notice, and which were so rapidly intro- duced into the Georgian islands, after the general reception of Christianity, none were more remark- able than those connected with the erection of private and public buildings. Instead of the miserable open-sided sheds which, in many districts, contrasted painfully with the rich and noble scenery of nature, and with which many of the indolent inhabitants were contented, before THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 481 tbcy became acquainted with European comforts j they now began every wbere to copy tbe more elegant and convenient buildings of tbe Mission- aries. Frames of new houses were every wbere set up, formed upon principles of carpen- try more scientific than had ever before been thought of 5 boarded sides and floors were added to the more durable roofings j and glass windows be^an to be in request in the new houses of the chiefs. The art of burning hme was also spee- dily learnt by the teachable natives, and the hand- some little dwellings which studded the beach at the bottom of the bay, or peeped forth from the hill-sides or the groves, being plastered with lime, assumed a gay and almost Enghsh appearance. But it was in the newly erected schools and chapels of the dififerent islands that the natives showed both their ambition and their taste. In Huahine a chapel was commenced in 1819, and finished the following year, which was an hun- dred feet long, sixty wide, and thirty high in the centre of the roof. The walls were plastered within and without, the windows closed with sliding shutters, and the doors were hung with iron hinges of native workmanship. The pulpit, 2 T 482 W. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN of a hexagonal form, was supported by six pillars of a beautiful satin-like wood, which grows on the island j the pannels, of the rich yellow wood of the bread-fruit tree, and the frame work of a fine wood of a dark chesnut colour, contrasting well with the pannels of yellow. The stairs, reading desk, and communion table, of a deep amber-coloured bread-fruit, showed specimens of native workmanship, such as the islanders might well be proud of 3 for the building had been com- pleted by the people j the king of the island, and his son, a youth of seventeen, giving their effective encouragement and assistance. Meantime, in Raiatea, a building for a similar purpose had been erected, which, as well as the former, was finished in the month of April, 18*20 j and, on being opened, was found to contain two thousand four hundred people within its walls. Round the pulpit were the seats for the chiefs of the island j and in the evenings, the Missionaries having contrived to erect a rude species of chan- deliers, they were, to the admiration of the natives lighted up for public worship. The frames of these chandeliers were made of a light but tough wood suspended from the roof, and the lamps which were THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 483 of the common sort, were made of the half shell of a cocoa-nut, with oil and wick. The natives when they first entered the chapel, and beheld it lighted up in this brilliant manner, never having before seen so many lamps burning together, started with astonishment and admiration. But the greatest wonder of this sort, was the enormous building erected by King Pomare in Tahiti, which was called the Royal Mission Chapel of Papaoa. Pomare, it will be recollected, had judiciously been made president of a Mis- sionary society, and it could not be expected that he would feel less proud of the honour, than other great men seem to be among the refined people of Europe. " It is probable," says Mr. Ellis, '^ that, considering the Tahitians as a Christian people, he had some desire to emulate the conduct of Solomon in building a temple, as well as surpassing in knowledge the kings and chieftains of the islands." Certain it is, that more for the show of the erection, (upon the occa- sion of the great meeting at the anniversary of the society, of which he was president,) than for any purpose of general usefulness, he projected a temple in his own island, which, considering 484 W. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN the enormous quantity of materials used, the imperfect skill which his artificers had yet attained, and the rude nature of the tools they had to work withal, may well fill Europeans with astonishment, both at the boldness of the design, and the perseverance evinced in the execution. The Royal Mission Chapel was in length not less than 712 feet, and in breadth fifty-four 3 the centre of the roof was supported by thirty-six cylindrical pillars, formed of bread-fruit trees of the larger size^ and the building, which was furnished with three pulpits, was intended to accommodate three congregations performing service at the same time. One hundred and thirty-three win- dows, furnished with sliding shutters, admitted light and air to this singular structure, and twenty-nine doors afforded ingress and egress to the several congregations. The floor of the building was strewed with long grass, in the native fashion, and furnished with forms ; a stream from the mountains crossed its area near the centre, as it could not be conveniently di- verted from its course j and a passage extended between the forms down the whole length of the building. THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 485 In May, 1819, when the encampment of the natives who had flocked to attend the anniver- sary of the Missionary society, extended along the shore a distance of four miles, this great chapel was opened for worship. Seven thousand people entered the chapel, and, divided into three congregations of above 2000 each, were ministered unto by three diflferent preachers at the same time, who held forth from three dif- ferent texts J the king and his chiefs being seated at the eastern end of this enormously long house. Had Mr. Ellis been present on this proud day, we should have been favoured with a regular description of the peculiar effect of such a Mis- sionary meeting. But he tells us that, afterwards entering from the west, the perspective of the vista here presented, extending upwards of 700 feet, (though the building was too narrow and too low in the roof for grandeur,) had an effect that was at once singular and striking. The lengthened line of pillars, and of windows that admitted streams of light crossing the vista ; the waving native ornaments with which the roof was adorned j and the perfect simplicity and uni- formity of every thing j together with the con- 2 T 2 486 AV. ELLIS AND OTIl LRS, IN slderation of the labour and effort necessary for the construction of the whole^ were calculated to impress the mind with astonishment, when all this was found in one of the islands of the South Sea. We speak of this ostentatious building in the past tense, as it is, we believe, now in ruins. We now proceed to give a brief account of one of the last of Mr. Ellis's voyages among these islands, which was to Tahiti, and this also affords an opportunity for some notice of the state of the mission in that island, to which a few of the Missionaries had returned, as before stated, after the general change, and to second the bril- liant prospects which had then been opened by the conversion of the king. Among the changes which had occurred in the interim, in the circum- stances and policy of these islands, schemes of trade had been entertained by Pomarej into the details of which it belongs not to our plan to enter, but which called Mr. Ellis from his labours in Huahine, to attend a consultation of Mission- aries, and make one of a deputation appointed to wait upon his majesty, at his residence near the old station of the Missionaries at Matavai, THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 487 His voyage in his small boat was rapid and agreeable ; for, having advanced about an hundred miles in twenty hours, at midnight he heard the roaring of the surf over the coral reefs, as it dashed against the steep rocks of the harbour of Taloo in Eimeo j and in an hour after, shooting swiftly into the deep bay, they made the shore. Late as it was, Mr. Ellis proceeded up the valley, to the residence of one of the Missionaries, whom he roused from his sleep, and where he was accom- modated for the remainder of the night. His companions on the voyage having in the mean- time spread the sails of the boat upon polls, on the beach, to serve as a tent, kindling a fire, and laid themselves down under the sail or in the boat, and went to rest. Next day, it being quite calm at sea, Mr. Ellis determined on not proceeding on his voyage till the evening ; which gave him an opportu- nity of addressing a congregation of the natives which was collected to hear him. In the evening, at eight o'clock, they again put to sea j and having cleared the harbour, and entered the wide Pacific, he began to make arrangements for performing his nighl voyage in safety. Knowing 488 W. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN the disposition of the natives to become drowsy, and slacken in their watching towards the morning, he determined to take a short nap himself first, in order that he might be the better able to watch while the others were in danger of giving way to sleep. Having placed a trusty man at the helm, he accordingly lay down on the seat at the stern, and soon was oblivious to all worldly concerns. The easy motion of the boat had so well rocked our voyageur in his unanxious slumbers, that he awoke not but, as it seemed, by chance, for, on opening his eyes, not a sound was to be heard around him, nor could he for an instant collect his senses to think where he was. What was his consternation, on looking up, to see the broad day-light, the man at the helm fast asleep, and every one of the other islanders also in sound repose, in different parts of the boat. Such a situation, of men in an open boat, on the bosom of the Pacific, was as strange as it might have been dangerous. But they were yet within sight of land, being about half way between the island they had left and Tahiti j the lofty mountains of which began now to appear, in the clear light of the morning sun. Mr. Ellis awoke his dormant THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 48'9 companions, \vho looked round them and rubl)cd their eyes in ludicrous confusion, scarcely believ- ing the evidence of their senses, as they saw day-light, and were told that the whole ship's company had been buried in sleep. The sea, however, was extremely calm and smooth, and taking to their oars, a few hours' hard rowing after so sound a nap, brought them to a place called Burder's point in the island of Tahiti. Landing at this point, Mr. Ellis soon came to the Missionary station, where he, and the native chiefs associated with him in the deputa- tion, were gladly received. Here they found marks of the same march of improvement, so rapidly advancing in all these islands. Besides the comfortable plastered houses newly erected, and the flourishing gardens and enclosures which appeared in every direction, a public burying- ground, situated on the borders of the settlement, and surrounded by a neat wall, bore evidence of the progress towards those decencies of life and death, which connect themselves with sentiment, and are hallowed by virtue. A convenient school house was also erected; and a compact chapel, built near the ruins of an ancient marai, or temple of idols, was not only supplied with sealii 490 AV. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN and pulpited within, with neatness and good taste, but was likewise fitted up with a gallery, — the first that had been seen in the Georgian islands. Leaving this station, and rowing along the coast, Mr. Ellis came to another, near a place called Wilkes's harbour, and not far from which the queen and her sister were then residing. The chiefs who accompanied our Missionary, having gone to the residence of that lady, he, after a short interview with her, went of course to the settlement of his brethren. The principal Missionary established here was Mr. Crook, whom we have more than once had occasion to men- tion, as having been originally left by the DufF in Tongatabu. Mr. Crook was living with his family in an agreeable and elevated situation, on the brow of a hill, which he had called Mount Hope, and which, being on the extremity of a low ridge, which swelled into the interior of the island, commanded an extensive and delightful prospect. Here our Missionary spent the Sunday, having preached to an attentive congregation of five hundred persons ; and on the following day, again meeting with the chiefs, he proceeded to THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 491 the well known district of Matavai, where Po- mare, the king, now resided. The business of the deputation having been partly accomplished, Mr. Ellis took up his abode with the veteran missionary, Mr. Nott, who was here stationed, and with him he consulted respecting the framing of those laws and public institutions, which were afterwards established among these islands, to the everlasting honour of Missionary effort. At length, on the fourth of May, he took his leave, and the observations he made on his voyage home, affords us an opportunity of briefly no- ticing some of the most interesting notions of the simple islanders of the south sea. Having sailed speedily back to Eimeo, his voyage home to Huahine, the scene of his own immediate labours, was again in the night. Parting from the romantic scenery of Eimeo, shortly after they had witnessed the enchanting effects of the short twilight upon the mountains, as they rowed slowly on, the night darkened around them, and they found themselves in the solemn stillness of a calm night in the Pacific Ocean. '* The night," says Mr. Ellis, " was moonless, but not dark. The stars increased in 492 W. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN number and variety as the evening advanced, until the whole firmament was overspread with luminaries of every magnitude and brilliancy. The agitation of the sea had subsided, and the waters around us appeared to unite with the indistinct, though visible horizon. In the heaven and the ocean all powers of vision were lost ; while the brilliant lights in the one, being re- flected from the surface of the other, gave a correspondence to the appearance of both, and almost forced the illusion on the mind, that our little bark was suspended in the centre of two united hemispheres." A scene of this kind, so imaginatively described by our Missionary, is always impressive, even in the more uncertain climate of the British islands. But here there was something in the appearance of the twinkling vault above, which had an im- pressive novelty to a contemplative mind. The part of the celestial hemisphere which here meets the eye, is very different from that on which we are accustomed to look in a northern sky. The splendours of Orion, and the mild twinkle of the Pleiades, were yet in view among the constella- tions of the zodiac ; but the celebrated pole-star, THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 493 and the great Bear of the north, were nowhere to be seen. In short the stars belonging to the southern constellations of the Fish, the Ship, the Centaur, and the Crux, supply the place of those starry shapes and figures in the sky, that northern Europeans have looked upon from in- fancy. So that in these antipodean regions, the contemplative native of the British Islands, upon looking up, sees above him '* a new heaven," which destroys the associations, and distorts the dreaming fancies of his youth. While sailing along on the deep by star-light, Mr, Ellis was naturally led to endeavour to as- certain the notions of his fellow voyagers upon the interesting subject of the heavens, and all they contain and show forth. Their ideas, as might naturally be expected, were, he informs us, fabulous and erroneous in the extreme. They imagined that the sea which surrounded their islands was a level plane, and that at the visible horizon, or some distance beyond it, the sky joined the ocean, enclosing as with an arch, or hollow cone, the islands in the immediate vici- nity. They were acquainted with the neighbour- ing groups of islands, such as the Marquesas, the 2 u 494 W. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN Friendly Islands, the Sandwich Islands, &c., and with the more distant continents of New South Wales, Spain, and Britain, they had also of late, by many reports, become acquainted. But they imagined that each of these had a distinct atmos- phere, and was inclosed in the same manner as they thought the heavens surrounded their own islands. " Hence," continues Mr. Ellis, *' they spoke of foreigners as those who came from be- hind the sky, or from the other side of what they considered the sky of their part of the world.'* As to the heavens, or the material part of them, they imagined them to consist of a series of celes- tial strata ten in number, each stratum being the abode of spirits or gods, whose elevation was regulated by their rank or power, — that these strata were formed of different sorts of clouds or rays of light, and that the upper or inner was lost in perpetual darkness. This not unpoetical sup- position, gives a faint notion of the chaotic origin of the universe, and the illimitable space in which it exists. Considering the sun as the offspring of the gods, they thought it was a substance resembling fire ; and most of the people imagined that it sank every THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 495 evening into the sea ; and that passing during the night under the great waters, by some submarine passage, it arose in the opposite quarter of the heavens in the morning. If asked at night where the sun had gone to, the answer of the natives was, " into the sea ;" and when further enquired of how they knew that this was the case, they told of certain people belonging to the most west- ern of the islands near them, who had heard the hissing occasioned by its plunging into the ocean. As to the moon, many supposed that she was the wife of the sun, and others that it was a beauti- ful country in which the Aoa grew. The stars were also by some considered to be the children of the sun and moon, but yet inhabited by the spi- rits of human beings ; and thus when they witness the phenomenon called a shooting star, they sup- pose it to be the flight of a spirit. Like the natives of South Africa, these island- ers reckon time, not by the number of days, but by nights, and have a name for every night of the moon. Their correct method of computing time, and their ability to reckon numbers, even as far as one million, justly astonished our traveller, and may be taken as a proof of their ancient 496 W. ELLIS AND OTIliniS, IN existence as a people, as well as of the goodness of their mental capacity. To return, however, to our voyagers: — passing the night in contemplation and occasional conversation, their little vessel soon came in sight of Huahine, and the same morning being Sunday, they landed again in Tarre harbour, where, finding their friends and families in good health, they gave thanks to God for their mutual preservation. THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 497 CHAPTER VII. Summary of the Changes effected by the Introduction of Christi- anity' into the Georgian Islands— South Sea Academy established at Eimeo— Laws promulgated, and Revenue levied— Judges and Magistrates appointed, and Trial by Jury — Parliament of Chiefs formed at Tahiti — Death of Pomare, and return of Mr. Ellis to England — General Remarks on the Customs and History of the Islanders — Insanity among them— Wild Men amon;; the Moun- tains of Tahiti— Trepanning — Ancient Origin of these Nations — Conclusion. The further voyages and travels of Mr. Ellis, to New Zealand ; to Barbora ; to Hawaii, &c., it is not our purpose at present to follow. We cannot, however, part with the subject of Mission- ary labours in this quarter, without offering a brief summary of the principal changes eflfected by these, and the rapid spread of the Christian faith among the amiable inhabitants of the Georgian islands. 2 u 2 498 W. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN The peculiar customs and manners of this people, to which we have but briefly alluded in the foregoing pages, and of which such satisfac- tory accounts have been obtained by the researches of Mr. Ellis and others, open too wide a subject for our present plan ; and are, besides, happily wearing out and becoming obsolete, through the ameliorating and civilising influence of Christi- anity Yet some further allusion to a few of them is necessary in summing up, merely to show what moral instruction and Christian principle have already effected, where cruel barbarism and blind idolatry had, for ages, taught an amiable people to suppress their best feelings -, and de- prived them of the full amount of that happiness which abundant nature had provided for them, among the romantic vallies of these islands. The first effect of the reception of the new faith, included in the triumphant abolition of idol worship, was, as already noticed, the general suppression of the crime of infanticide j which, together with polygamy, and many other prac- tices not to be named, were yearly depriving thousands of the blessings of existence, and gradually reducing these islands to a state of TIIR SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 49f) desolation. Next after this, and the abolition of human sacrifices, another invaluable boon to hu- manity, conferred by missionary instruction and example, was the restoration of the female sex to their natural place and privileges in their family, and the creation anew to the experience of these people of the pleasures and virtues of the domestic hearth. The barbarous and painful in- flictions of wounds upon themselves, with sharks' teeth, — at their periods of lamentation, and even of joy, by which inveterate custom they, with bodies streaming with blood, and savage ges- tures, seemed as if they intended to familiarise themselves and others with suffering, — next gave way to reason and humanity. The painful and disfiguring practice of tatooing their bodies, by which diseases often were engendered, and many yearly lost their lives, was also discontinued. Their gross and almost incredible inhumanity to the sick and aged in many cases, — their occasional practices of the crimes of fratricide and even parricide, under the delusive influence of the sor- ceries of an inhuman superstition, — their cruel, exterminating, and most savage wars, — their beastly indulgence of inebriety, — to which many had sadly given way of late years> and the means 500 W. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN of causing which, by the fruits of distillation, they had been taught to manufacture in a rude way by some Sandwich Islanders; — these and many other immoralities, and the numberless miseries which they occasioned, even amidst surrounding plenty and beauty, have happily given place greatly, to the active results of the better feelings, and to the practice of those restraining virtues which Christianity enjoins. In addition to these humanising changes, the rapidity with which the people have imbibed lite- rary instruction from the Missionaries, and adopted successively the institutions of civilised nations, is almost incredible. Besides the numerous schools and other inferior seminaries scattered over all the islands, and the general progress made by the people in the elemental branches of education ; a minor kind of college has been erected in the island of Eimeo, under the imposing name of the South Sea Academy ; in which the present king of Tahiti received his education, and where sciences and ancient languages are even now taught, both to the sons of the Missionaries, and to many apt scholars among the natives. Besides also the introduction, to a considerable extent in these islands, of European buildings, THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 501 dresses, and habits of life ; and of the important institutions of Christian marriage and burial; besides baptism, and other rites of the church ; a regular code of laws have also been adopted, and promulgated by the King of Tahiti in solemn assembly; which contribute, in no small degree of course, to that security and good order, which is a distinguishing feature of civilisation in society. These laws were loudly called for by the circunr.- stances of the people; and together with the consolidation of the government, (effected also by the efforts of the Missionaries, by the favour- able disposition of Pomare, the king,) have been an immense boon to the common people, even in saving them from those irregular and tyrannical exactions of former times, by which no man's property was at all secure, but which inveterate custom had allowed the king and his rapacious followers to exercise, where they chose, with per- fect impunity. This code of laws, which were approved of and promulgated, not only by Pomare and his chiefs, but by the king, and other leading persons of the neighbouring islands, it is need- less to add were drawn up, after repeated consul- tations, by the ablest of the Missionaries ; and are UUl yv, ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN distinguished by their mild spirit in regard to the punishment of crime, and by their wise adaptation to the simple circumstances of the society in which they are meant to operate. * But the most surprising evidences of the rapid progress of civilisation in this quarter, have been the erection of a representative government ; the formation of a parliament of chiefs, statedly meet- ing in the island of Tahiti ; the levying of a regu- lar revenue, to meet the expences of the state ; the appointment of magistrates and judges, with due regulations for themselves and inferior officers; and even the general adoption of trial by jury. Whether in these important innovations upon the simple habits of an almost savage people, the Missionaries have not proceeded at too quick a pace, time will show ; but as far as we have yet learned, no ill result has occurred from these arrangements, and the beneficial effects of the laws and of the mode of their administration, seems to be felt and acknowledged by all. Be- sides the progress in agriculture and other arts, the introduction of needle-work among the fe- * A translation of the greater part of these laws will be found in Mr. Ellis's Polynesian Researches, vol.ii. page 427. THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 503 males, and of a taste for British goods, which have accompanied these changes, some manufactures have been begun in these islands and prosecuted with success ; but the confinement necessary in the spinning of cotton, which was attempted, and other similar sedentary employments, will not soon become congenial to the indolent and roving habits of the islanders. One great means of these remarkable changes, unparalleled for the short time in which they took place, was the conversion, in the first instance, of Pomare the king, which thus opened the way for all that followed, from the operation of the usual principles by which, in cases of this nature, man- kind are generally affected. The king's studious habits too, and partiality for learning, assisted greatly in the promotion of education, from the same causes ; and the effects afford another lesson (as to where they ought to begin) to those who would introduce any important novel arrange- ment among a whole people. Pomare wrote a good hand, and even kept a regular daily jour- nal, for a long period. Though as ostentatious of his religion, and as new fangled for a time, as young converts frequently are, and though in his 504 W. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN latter years, he fell somewhat into inebriety and other vices of his country, he was, upon the whole, a tolerably good man, and generally a respected prince. He died in December, 1821, aged forty- seven, and was succeeded by his son, Pomare the Third, who, agreeable to the European usages taught by the Missionaries, was crowned when he came of age, in April, 1824, with much cere- mony. Since that period Mr. Ellis has returned to England. Of the many interesting facts in the history of man, and of this part of the world, which, in the course of his researches, Mr. Ellis was enabled to ascertain, we can only further notice one or two within the limits of this volume. It has been often asserted that insanity is a disease exclusively belonging to civilised life, and that it is unknown among communities of men living in the sim- plicity and indolence of mere nature in a produc- tive country, without that care and forethought for subsistence, which necessitates anxiety and abstraction, or being subject to the complex re- lations, difficulties, and trials of artificial life. But even among the delightful islands of the South Sea, our Missionary found that this dis- THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 505 ease was by no means unknown ; those afflicted in this way, however, being believed to be inspired or possessed by some god, were treated with the utmost respect, and left entirely without control ; so that their actions being considered as those of the god, and not their own, when they destroyed themselves, which they sometimes did, the act was never sought to be prevented, nor deplored, after it had taken place. Among the fastnesses of the interior mountains of Tahiti, a number of v»^ild men were found to exist, who avoided all society with the rest of the natives ; whose appearance was melancholy and striking; their hair uncut for years, their bodies, naked, except a girdle round the loins — and one of whom, seen by Mr. Ellis, being taken, would neither eat, drink, nor speak ; but although treated with every kindness, took the first opportunity of flying by night back to the mountains. The Mis- sionary supposed that terror, after some defeat in battle, and probably the murder of their families, had driven these men to take refuge in the moun- tains ; and that, fear, and their solitary and wild life, had brought on a degree of mental aberra- tion. 2 X 506 AV. ELLIS AND OTHERS, IN Among the singular customs and barbarous attempts at surgical cures, practised by this people in cases of accident, or when wounds were received in their wars, Mr. Ellis mentions one which deserves to be noticed. It was re- ported to him that several persons were still alive in the island of Barbora, upon whom the opera- tion of trepanning had been successfully per- formed ; and that in other cases where the head had been broken in battle, and the patient had lost a portion of the brain, the rude operators opening the skull, and killing a pig, which they had ready at hand, took out the brain of the animal, and putting a portion into the head of the man, covered it up and sent him away, supposing him cured. It is added, however, that in such cases the man always afterwards became furiously mad, and died. English sur- geons would say this was not to be wondered at. From what country of the old world the nu- merous nations of Polynesia derived their origin, is entirely unknown. But the copiousness and perfection of their language, their skill in the computation of numbers, the existence of many fragments of pavement, and rude temples of THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 507 considerable antiquity on the island, together with the traditions preserved among them, and other circumstances, prove them to be a very ancient people. Connected with the researches into the superstition and antiquities of Polynesia, the name of Mr. BarfF, another intelligent Mis- sionary and coadjutor of Mr. Ellis, deserves to be mentioned. Some of the traditions which he obtained are extremely poetical, as well as curious ; exhibiting a mixture of the essoteric re- velations of the Brahmins, and, in some respects, a striking analogy to the scripture accounts of the ancient Jews ; particularly a most fanciful variation of the Noahian deluge. The inhabit- ants of the South Sea Islands, when asked whence they originally came, agree in pointing to that quarter of the horizon where the sun sets ; and many of their customs bear a strong resemblance to those found among the Hindoos and other nations in the East, in the course of the researches of Dr. Buchanan, Mr. Ward, and Bishop Heber. Of these distinguished men, however, and their labours as travellers, or as Missionaries, we cannot in this place farther speak. Since 508 W. ELLIS AND OTHERS, &C. the time of Bartholomew Zeigenbalg, a German, who was the first Protestant missionary to the east, (1706) many remarkable men have laboured in that quarter of the world ; from the benevo- lent Swartz, after Grundler and others, to the persevering Carey and Marshman at Seram- pore ; the laborious and erudite Dr. Morison in China, and the amiable and enthusiastic Henry Martyn, lately so well known, who sacrificed his life in Missionary labours and travels under the burning sun of Hindoostan. These names, however, with others that might be added, we have now only space to allude to here, — for the gratification of the benevolent, and to the honour of humanity. THE END. lADBUKV ASH EVANS, PRINTERS, BOUVERIE JTREIT. NEW WORKS LATELY PUBLISHLD BY WILLIAM KIDD, 6, OLD BOND STREET, AND HENRY CONSTABLE, 17, WATERLOO PLACE, EDINBURGH. A SECOND EDITION OF THE DOMINIE'S LEGACY, In Three Volumes, post 8vo, price 24s. CONSISTING OF A SERIES OF DETACHED TALES, ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE SCENERY AND MANNERS OF SCOTLAND. By the Author oj " Travels and Researches of Eminent English Missionaries." " These volumes no longer need our praise ; but we cannot mention them without remembering the deep pathos of 'Mary Ogilvie,' and the rich quiet humour of ' Minis- ter Tam.' We begin to have good hopes of winning fame for sound wholesome literature, since the world is v.illing XEW WORKS PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM KIDD. to patronize so unpretending and unpuffed a work, as the Do.mixie's Legacy." — AthencEum. " These highly interesting volumes well deserve a place in every library. ' — Blackicood's Magazine. " We can assure our readers that one single tale in these delightful volumes (the tale of Mary Ogilvie,) is well worth the money charged for the w'hole work." — Morning Journal. SLAVERY AS IT NOW EXISTS IN THE WEST INDIA COLONIES. Just published, in a handsome octavo volume, illustrated by numerous Lithographic Embellishments, FOUR YEARS IN THE WEST INDIES, IN 1826-7,-8, & 9. OPIXIONS OF THE PUBLIC PRESS. " ' Four Years' Residence in the West Indies' has ena- bled our clever author to produce a work at once amusing and valuable — amusing from his lively manner, and valuable from his judicious information. He is not one of those who saw nothing but negro oppression and misery in the West Indies : on the contrary, though an advocate for gradual emancipation, he draws, on the uhole, a favourable picture of the condition of the slave population ; and his testi- mony is entitled to the more attention, as, being the son of a military officer, and utterly unconnected with planters, he could have no bias to warp his views on this momentous question. His volume is enriched by concise chronologies and statistics of ihe various islands, from their discovery to the present time, and by a number of well executed litho- graphic embellishments. In all respects the author de- seives our praise ; and his book will, we are persuaded, be NEW WORKS PLBLISUED EV WILLIAM kIDD. favourably received by the public in general." — Literary Gazette. " This interesting \''olume contains a very complete his- tory of the past and present state of the West Indies."' — Monthly Review. " A very valuable work, which should be read by every person interested in the West India Question ; and who is there in this country that is not deeply interested?" — Monthly Magazine. " We earnestly recommend this interesting Volume to the perusal of our readers." — John Bull. " This is by far the most readable book on the West India Colonies that has yet appeared. It abounds in lively and graphic pictures of society." — Glasgow Free Press. ** Among other interesting features in this volume, we must not omit to notice the chronology of the Antilles. It ib highly useful and is not to be met with elsewhere." — Standard, Just published, in Svo, price 2s. REMARKS ON A NEW AND TRULY IMPORTANT REMEDY IN CONSUMPTIVE DISEASES, With a Description of an Apparatus for the Easy and Domestic Employment of a Medicated Atmosphere in Cases of Impeded Respiration. BY JOHN DODDRIDGE HUMPHREYS, Scrgeo.v. " In this little treatise, it has been the object of the author, to give that information which is most interestiry^ NT.W WORKS PrBLTSIIED BY WILLIAM KIDD. to tlie Invalid in the most concise form. In tracing the predisposing causes, — the immediate occasion, — and the cure of Consumption, — the matter has therefore been con- densed as far as possible, and all technical terms omitted or explained. In a neat Volume, foolscap 8vo, price 5s. 6d., TALES OF THE CYCLADES, AND OTHER POEMS. CnEDICATED, BY EXPRESS PERMISSION, TO PRINCE LEOPOLD. t BY H. J. BRADFIELD. " With a young spirit deeply imbued with the traditions and present circumstances of Greece, our author has again poured out his impressions in song. The elegance of his composition, links him both with Greece and poetry in a genial manner," — Literary Gazette. Princeton Theological Seminary Libraries 1 1012 01233 8341 m