The clergyman pronounced a
short discourse at the side of the grave; and, as the coffin was
being lowered, the mats, straw hat, and clothes of the deceased, as
well as a few of the presents, were thrown in with it. The
relations were present, but as unconcerned as I was myself.
The graveyard was in the immediate vicinity of several murais. The
latter are small four-cornered plots of ground surrounded by stone
walls three or four feet high, where the natives used to deposit
their dead, which were left exposed upon wooden frames until the
flesh fell from the bones. These were then collected and buried in
some lonely spot.
The same evening I witnessed a remarkable mode of catching fish.
Two boys waded out into the sea, one with a stick, and the other
with a quantity of burning chips. The one with the stick drove the
fish between the rocks, and then hit them, the other lighting him in
the meanwhile. They were not very fortunate, however. The more
common and successful manner of fishing is with nets.
Almost every day Monsieur - - had visits from officers who were
passing, accompanied by their mistresses. The reader may easily
imagine that the laws of propriety were not, however, always
strictly observed, and as I had no desire to disturb the gentlemen
in their intellectual conversation and amusement, I retired with my
book into the servants' room. They, too, would laugh and joke, but,
at least, in such a manner that there was no occasion to blush for
them.
It was highly amusing to hear Monsieur - - launch out in praise of
the attachment and gratitude of his Indian beauty; he would have
altered his tone had he seen her behaviour in his absence. On one
occasion I could not help telling one of the gentlemen my opinion of
the matter, and expressing my astonishment that they could treat
these grasping and avaricious creatures with such attention and
kindness, to load them with presents, anticipate their every wish,
and forgive and put up with their most glaring faults. The answer I
received was: that these ladies, if not so treated and loaded with
presents, would quickly run off, and that, in fact, even by the
kindest attentions they never allowed themselves to be influenced
very long.
From all I saw, I must repeat my former assertion, that the Tahitian
people are endowed with none of the more noble sentiments of
humanity, but that their only pleasures are merely animal. Nature
herself encourages them to this in an extraordinary manner. They
have no need to gain their bread by the sweat of their brow; the
island is most plentifully supplied with beautiful fruit, tubercles
of all descriptions, and tame pigs, so that the people have really
only to gather the fruit and kill the pigs.
