Thus, In Their
Heathen State, The Sandwich Islanders Actually Knocked Out Their
Teeth, Tore Their Hair, And Mangled Their Bodies With Shells, To
Testify Their Inconsolable Grief At The Demise Of A High Chief, Or
Member Of The Royal Family.
And yet, Vancouver relates that, on such
an occasion, upon which he happened to be present, those apparently
the most abandoned to their feelings, immediately assumed the utmost
light-heartedness on receiving the present of a penny whistle, or a
Dutch looking-glass.
Similar instances, also, have come under my own
observation.
The following is an illustration of the trait alluded to, as
occasionally manifested among the converted Polynesians.
At one of the Society Islands - Baiatair, I believe - the natives, for
special reasons, desired to commend themselves particularly to the
favour of the missionaries. Accordingly, during divine service, many
of them behaved in a manner, otherwise unaccountable, and precisely
similar to their behaviour as heathens. They pretended to be wrought
up to madness by the preaching which they heard. They rolled their
eyes; foamed at the mouth; fell down in fits; and so were carried
home. Yet, strange to relate, all this was deemed the evidence of the
power of the Most High; and, as such, was heralded abroad.
But, to return to the Church of the Cocoa-nuts. The blessing
pronounced, the congregation disperse; enlivening the Broom Road with
their waving mantles. On either hand, they disappear down the shaded
pathways, which lead off from the main route, conducting to hamlets
in the groves, or to the little marine villas upon the beach.
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