I Observed That, Towards The Latter End Of Our Stay, They Began To Ask For Hatchets, And Large Nails, So That It Is Likely They Had Found That Iron Is More Serviceable Than Stone, Bone, Or Shells, Of Which All Their Tools I Have Seen Are Made.

Their stone hatchets, at least all those I saw, are not in the shape of adzes, as at the other islands, but more like an axe.

In the helve, which is pretty thick, is made a hole into which the stone is fixed.

These people, besides the cultivation of ground, have few other arts worth mentioning. They know how to make a coarse kind of matting, and a coarse cloth of the bark of a tree, which is used chiefly for belts. The workmanship of their canoes, I have before observed, is very rude; and their arms, with which they take the most pains in point of neatness, come far short of some others we have seen. Their weapons are clubs, spears or darts, bows and arrows, and stones. The clubs are of three or four kinds, and from three to five feet long. They seem to place most dependence on the darts, which are pointed with three bearded edges. In throwing them they make use of a becket, that is, a piece of stiff plaited cord about six inches long, with an eye in one end and a knot at the other. The eye is fixed on the fore-finger of the right hand, and the other end is hitched round the dart, where it is nearly on an equipoise. They hold the dart between the thumb and remaining fingers, which serve only to give it direction, the velocity being communicated by the becket and fore-finger. The former flies off from the dart the instant its velocity becomes greater than that of the hand. But it remains on the finger ready to be used again. With darts they kill both birds and fish, and are sure of hitting a mark, within the compass of the crown of a hat, at the distance of eight or ten yards; but, at double that distance, it is chance if they hit a mark the size of a man's body, though they will throw the weapon sixty or seventy yards. They always throw with all their might, let the distance be what it will. Darts, bows and arrows are to them what musquets are to us. The arrows are made of reeds pointed with hard wood; some are bearded and some not, and those for shooting birds have two, three, and sometimes four points. The stones they use are, in general, the branches of coral rocks from eight to fourteen inches long, and from an inch to an inch-and-half in diameter. I know not if they employ them as missive weapons; almost every one of them carries a club, and besides that, either darts, or a bow and arrows, but never both; those who had stones kept them generally in their belts.

I cannot conclude this account of their arms without adding an entire passage out of Mr Wales's journal. As this gentleman was continually on shore amongst them, he had a better opportunity of seeing what they could perform, than any of us. The passage is as follows: "I must confess I have been often led to think the feats which Homer represents his heroes as performing with their spears, a little too much of the marvellous to be admitted into an heroic poem; I mean when confined within the strait stays of Aristotle. Nay, even so great an advocate for him as Mr Pope, acknowledges them to be surprising. But since I have seen what these people can do with their wooden spears, and them badly pointed, and not of a very hard nature, I have not the least exception to any one passage in that great poet on this account. But, if I see fewer exceptions, I can find infinitely more beauties in him; as he has, I think, scarce an action, circumstance, or description of any kind whatever, relating to a spear, which I have not seen and recognised among these people; as their whirling motion, and whistling noise, as they fly; their quivering motion, as they stick in the ground when they fall; their meditating their aim, when they are going to throw, and their shaking them in their hand as they go along, &c. &c."

I know no more of their cookery, than that it consists of roasting and baking; for they have no vessel in which water can be boiled. Nor do I know that they have any other liquor but water and the juice of the cocoa- nut.[4]

We are utter strangers to their religion; and but little acquainted with their government. They seem to have chiefs among them; at least some were pointed out to us by that title; but, as I before observed, they appeared to have very little authority over the rest of the people. Old Geogy was the only one the people were ever seen to take the least notice of; but whether this was owing to high rank or old age, I cannot say. On several occasions I have seen the old men respected and obeyed. Our friend Paowang was so; and yet I never heard him called chief, and have many reasons to believe that he had not a right to any more authority than many of his neighbours, and few, if any, were bound to obey him, or any other person in our neighbourhood; for if there had been such a one, we certainly should, by some means, have known it. I named the harbour Port Resolution, after the ship, she being the first which ever entered it. It is situated on the north side of the most eastern point of the island, and about E.N.E. from the volcano; in the latitude of 19 deg.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 194 of 235
Words from 196887 to 197886 of 239428